Let’s set the scene — a mysterious figure in a black hoodie stands in the shadows before a barely lit screen. They command their keyboard with gloved hands to code out at lightning speed. The screen changes from one window to multiple terminals. No, this isn’t a Will Smith movie! But it’s not too far off. In fact, it’s happening right now. A hacker may not always look as cool as a movie hacker, but certainly the clandestine, nefarious operations have a striking similarity.
But what if you could outsmart them at their own game? Welcome to the world of penetration testing, where ethical white-hat hackers can don a black (hat) attitude and emulate the tactics, techniques and execution of the dark forces they’re defending against. The idea is to break into your systems by thinking like the bad guys, but rather than walking off with your sensitive information, a penetration tester will show your where the chinks in your armour lie!
The Common Entry Points Hackers Exploit
Hackers frequently target the simple, easy-to-miss weaknesses in systems. A few of the most common include:
- Weak Passwords – People still use guessable passwords. Hackers can “brute force” their way into systems with poor passwords and take control.
- Unpatched Software – Failing to apply updates on time allows known vulnerabilities to be exploited. Hackers search for these holes to gain entry to systems.
- Misconfigurations – Slow systems enable hackers to move undetected from place to place. Open ports and low controls offer opportunities for sensitive information to be checked.
Penetration testing can identify these threats before criminals do and give you time to solve the problem.
How Penetration Testing Mimics Real-World Attacks
Penetration testing isn’t just a vulnerability scan — it replicates a cyberattack. Ethical hackers exploit opportunities just like cybercriminals do, including phishing campaigns, social engineering and software flaws. This approach helps businesses to understand how their real-world weaknesses would be targeted by cybercriminals.
The Value of Knowing Your Weaknesses Before Hackers Do
A professional penetration test lets companies find their vulnerabilities before attackers do. It’s like an accuracy and safety audit. Because of this, many companies can find and correct their most severe risk. If a hacker can acquire customer data through a compromised vulnerability, any activity to address this vulnerability is urgent.
One of the outputs of a penetration test is a long report containing an explanation of each vulnerability and what the consequence is if someone takes advantage of it as well as how this risk can be managed.
Empowering Your Security Strategy with Insights
Penetration test results can be a boon for your overall security. For example, if pen tests bear out that employees are using weak passwords, you can tighten your password policies and even force two-factor authentication (2FA) company-wide. Other times, the pen testing process may lead you to see where defences need to be installed or beefed-up — firewalls, access control measures and deeper threat detection software.
Penetration testing regimens not only fix today’s problems, but they help add to your ‘fix-it’ rollup list for the broader future.
Conclusion: Staying One Step Ahead
Cyber attacks happen every day but penetration testing can help you to find where you may be weak before the bad guys can. Penetration testers identify areas in which the hackers can gain entrance and from there, your company can address areas to close in order to decrease the amount of threat to your business.
Security is not something that you can do once and forget about. You have to continue to test and look for new problems that may present themselves. It is also less expensive to locate a problem and fix it than it is to clean up the mess that they leave behind. Actually, by paying for regular testing, you can lower your costs.
