The Internet is a great tool that has changed the world in many ways. Unfortunately, sometimes, with good comes bad. There are people out there who want to try to get your information, and take advantage of weakness in your network infrastructure.
What is Penetration Testing
Penetration testing is like putting the bad guys to work for you, except they are not bad guys.
A penetration tester is an ethical hacker. It is someone who can poke around your network to see where the weaknesses are to help you know where to add security, to better protect your business. Penetration testing is when an experienced hacker tries to find fault with your network, in order for you to make changes to prevent that from happening in a non controlled environment.
Hire Experienced and Honest Professionals
The first thing that might come to mind is that a penetration tester would be someone on the wrong side of the law. The most important thing in a penetration tester is integrity. They need to be professionals that have years of experience, of trying to find security breaches. Also, you want them to be certified, and have a strong desire to find weaknesses in the network.
How Penetration Testing Gives You Insight into Possible Network Breaches
Penetration testing is more than just giving you a laundry list of all the bad things that are going on. We look at things like how easy will it be to implement the fix and prioritize what is wrong, and what is most important to be resolved. We provide documentation, a technical review of what’s wrong and how to implement a resolution. Also, once the fix is in place, we post a test to see if the resolution actually works.
Accreditation in a Penetration Tester
A reputable company that does penetration testing will require strict accreditation. Some of these include:
- Being a CREST Member, members go through strict audit and accreditation processes.
- ISO27001 Certified Organization
- Offensive Security OSCP and OSCE qualifications.
These are just baseline qualifications. Experience and recognition in cybersecurity are key to putting together a solid Penetration Testing team.
Additional Benefits of a Great Security Team
When hiring a penetration tester you want to make sure you are covering all your needs. Having a 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) is a good addition so you can monitor for any threats, and be notified. You want versatility. Not only do you want to test the network, but the security of the cloud, your mobile devices, and your web application services. This way there is complete coverage and you are not left vulnerable.
Having peace of mind can help your business focus on what it needs to be focused on. Cybersecurity needs to be at the forefront of all companies, but your business can be more effective when you are able to focus on what your business does, instead of worrying about who has bad intentions towards your company.
