What Is Penetration Testing And Why Do I Need It?

When running a business, there are a lot of concerns to keep in mind. You want to ensure your products are great, your marketing is targeting the right people and your customer service is high-quality. However, far and away one of the biggest concerns for businesses is their security. Penetration testing is one of the most important security measures.

Security has always been important for companies, but this is more true now than ever. A big reason for this is the fact that we are seeing an increase in the prevalence of hacks and other cyber attacks. Even a single hack or data breach can often lead to a company failing, due to the high costs or the damaged reputation.

As a result, companies need to do all they can to ensure they are ready to defend against these attacks. One of the best ways to protect yourself is to go through regular penetration tests. This article is going to go over what these tests are, and why they are so important.

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing is a fairly common practice where a company will simulate an attack on it’s network, computer system, app or website. This is done to identify problem areas and vulnerabilities that hackers could potentially take advantage of. Without these tests, you might have a glaring hole in your security and not even know it until it is too late.

It’s much better to find the issues yourself or hire a third-party company to help, than it is to learn of the weakness during a real attack. Once problems have been identified in these tests, they can be patched up so you have a better line of defense against potential cyber attacks.

These tests should often be done at least once a year, or more frequently if you so choose. They are an important part of running a secure company and are a great way to quickly, and easily find ways to improve your security as a whole. If you want to learn more and do some additional reading and research, you can find more information on Emagined.

Why Do I Need It?

Well, there are several reasons why penetration testing is something that your company needs to do. First of all, you need these tests to make sure your security measures are good enough. Without testing, you are rolling the dice and simply hoping that your security measures are good enough. Generally, it’s much better to test and make sure than to simply hope.

Along with their prevalence growing, cyber attacks are always changing, evolving and becoming more sophisticated. There are many different threats out there to be aware of.Keeping updated with a new penetration test every year or so will ensure you are able to withstand the new and evolving threats that are out there.

In addition to finding vulnerabilities and issues, penetration tests and the teams that perform them can often help you make the necessary changes to your security procedures and protocols. Of course, be sure to test these new controls as well, as sometimes making changes can lead to further issues.

Next, you also need these tests to keep you compliant. Many different industries require businesses to complete penetration tests in order to remain compliant. If you don’t do the testing you are required, you could find yourself in some trouble and could end up having to pay fines or face other penalties.

Keeping Your Company Safe

Penetration tests are an important part of keeping your website, app or computer system safe and protected, Hackers and data thieves are using more complex and intricate techniques than ever before, and you need to make sure you are able to defend yourself. Without penetration tests, many companies would suffer from major vulnerabilities that could be taken advantage of by hackers.