Pen testing is a controlled imitation of a cyber-attack that assists you in pinpointing and evaluating security vulnerabilities in the apps, networks, and computer systems in both cloud environments and on-premises.
The main reason for incorporating a pen test is to discover vulnerabilities in the company’s security measures. Threat actors could maliciously utilize these.
The role of vulnerability scans is to pinpoint vulnerabilities. The penetration tests exploit the weaknesses identified and damage the security infrastructure. It leads to the possibility of severe penalties for real-life attacks.
Introduction
People across the world have witnessed an extraordinary increase in cyber threats. As a result, there is an increasing requirement for continuous security testing. This results in a growth in profitability via pen testing. As per Gartner, the pen testing market is projected to grow to 4.5 billion by 2025.
There are two sorts of pen tests: internal and external. Let’s look at this in detail.
The Significance of External Pen Testing
External pen testing looks at outskirt vulnerabilities and assesses the possible risks associated with external cyber threats.
Expert testers try to attain access to the company’s network by relying on vulnerabilities identified on external assets, like file shares, websites, and emails. The main objective is to replicate the scenario where an attacker can try to damage the security of the organization externally via public resources or the internet. This will enable them to attain authorized access to the company’s data and systems.
The Importance of Internal Pen Testing
After breaching the company’s security, they concentrate on horizontally moving across the apps and internal systems to see security gaps that could be exploited by the attackers.
The majority of companies stop after conducting external pen tests and eliminate internal testing because they think that they are not going to encounter any internal threats. But this is not the reality.
Each year, there are losses of millions of dollars because of insider attacks. Sometimes, such attacks are malicious and intentional. However, in several cases, internal security risks incur because of unintentional actions of negligent suppliers, vendors, partners, and employees. They have unauthorized access to the company’s apps and networks.
Perhaps the internal pen testers incorporate the same system that was conceded during the external tests to conduct the internal test. Nevertheless, the majority of people like to position a selected testing gadget or laptop within the network as it provides increased stability during the tests.
Authenticating your Organization’s Security Regulations
Pen tests can reveal well-protected systems and networks under your present cybersecurity policies. Pen test reports offer actionable insights into the sorts of susceptibilities they have identified and the way they can be resolved.
They identify gaps and weak links in your company’s internal cybersecurity rule implementation to fortify both perimeter and internal security.
The main purpose behind pen testing is to assess the security policies of your company in replication that are almost similar to the actual situations. Therefore, it evaluates as precisely as possible the protection level you have created.
Relying on the Internal and External pen tests
An in-depth approach to cybersecurity cultivates an assimilation of internal and external pen tests.
This twofold approach pinpoints different security vulnerabilities and risks from various viewpoints. This produces an effective defense system against all the attackers.
It entails attack trajectories from internal and external sources. This fortifies your company’s entire security posture.
The planned utilization of external and internal pen testing assists you to resolve queries like:
· Are the rights of access control strictly applied?
· How effective and rapid are your occurrence response processes in case of security infringement?
· Are your apps and systems formed as per the security protocols defined in your cybersecurity plans?
· Are your organization’s apps and software updated with the necessary fixes and patches?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is an external pen test?
It addresses vulnerability parameters and assesses possible risks associated with external cyber threats.
What are the types of pen testing?
· Black box testing
· White box testing
· Gray box testing
What are the 5 steps of pen testing?
Investigation, Scanning, Vulnerability evaluation, Misuse, and Reporting
Talk to the pen testing specialists at Diginatives to witness the combination of external and internal threats that can assist in identifying vulnerabilities in your security policies and infrastructure and the way to resolve them.
