Penetration testing is essentially the process of checking out the strength of your own digital security, around your networks, databases, servers and other online systems, to see how it would hold up against an unwanted attack by subjecting it to a live simulation of the same thing.
The term can also be used to describe testing of physical security and physical installations, but in this case we’re focusing exclusively on the digital aspect of pen testing, as it’s also called.
If you’re an online business owner or control a large body of computer data that connects to the greater outside web and internet, you absolutely should consider implementing a penetration test of your own at least once and ideally on a regularly scheduled basis in order to ensure that your security systems and staff are functioning at top grade and that your defenses themselves are weakness free.
Regular penetration testing is an excellent way to weed out soft spots, human errors and weakness chains in your digital security.
A Brief Overview
Penetration testing can be divided into a few broad categories. First, there are the subdivisions of tests that can either be done to simulate an attack by complete outsiders with no insider information on how your digital security works or tests that are conducted as if they were perpetrated with the help of an inside connection with special information.
Moving beyond that, pen tests can also be divided into announced tests and unannounced tests. The former being tests that are orchestrated with the full advance knowledge of all relevant staff and the latter being tests that were scheduled with the knowledge of only the testers (“attackers”) and the person who requested the testing.
While the former of these two can be a perfectly valid exercise, the latter is often considered superior because it more effectively simulates a real life attack in which intruders are not likely to announce their activities beforehand. In essence, an unannounced test works well because it gives a more realistic on the ground picture of how strong your security procedures normally are when caught unawares.
In the case of all penetration tests, the main aim is to discover weaknesses, coding mistakes, configuration errors, open spots in overlapping protections such as firewalls, encryption and anti-intruder software, and software or applications that have not been regularly updated (a major source of intruder access points)
Another thing many pen tests will also discover is the human weaknesses in your protection protocols; how sloppy or diligent your staff are and how well they stick to the data protection rules you have been setting out.
Why You Need to Conduct Penetration Tests
The most obvious and basic benefit of penetration testing lies in its ability to realistically simulate an attack by hackers who want to damage your systems, crash your servers or steal data. Without taking this step, your only surefire way of knowing if your defenses are robust enough will come when you are actually being hacked, and that’s a big risk to take.
Another high level plus to pen testing lies in its ability to discover all the weaknesses already described above before they cause you some real damage in the midst of a real intrusion.
It’s much better to know how you can be damaged under controlled but realistic circumstances than it is under uncontrollable and very real circumstances. Many companies have suffered the loss of enormous server crashes and massive amounts of stolen client information simply because they never looked for weaknesses beforehand.
A famous recent example being LinkedIn, which suffered the theft of more than 6 million user passwords simple because access to its servers was easy and none of the internal client data was encrypted. Both of these things might have been detected by a robust pen test.
Furthermore, if you’re in the business of guarding highly sensitive information such as financial data or credit card information, you not only should test your security in order to protect yourself from potential lawsuits, you might also actually have to due to regulatory obligations in the face of legal certification.
Finally, following a successful penetration test, you might find yourself discovering that you have actually been hacked already. In many cases, intrusions go undetected and information is quietly siphoned out through malicious code frameworks without an organization being aware at all until a third party team of professionals detect the leak in the midst of a security audit that includes pen testing.
What to Test
This will vary based on specific data infrastructure and organization, and will have to be covered in detail by anyone you hire to perform your tests for you. However, some basics that should be covered include
- Server security and access
- All external and internal firewall software
- Software applications, games, CMS systems, plugins and any third party script addons to your site, network and servers
- Telephone equipment including smart phones, fax servers, VOIP and Video Conferencing systems
- Wireless connections such as RFID, WiFi and contactless communication systems
- All off the shelf hardware that you use including: smart phones, wifi routers, firewall hardware and server stacks.
- All programming code for sites, applications and interface systems between your systems and the wider web.
Author Bio: John Dayton is a well-respected writer who has spent over 15 years covering the tech industry. When he’s not writing poignant articles, you can find him reviewing LWG and their various services including forensic engineering and structural failure analysis.
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