Penetration testing can essentially be described as a process through which a cyber-security professional tests a computer system, a network, or a web application with the sole purpose of finding out any weaknesses or loopholes that a hacker can exploit to gain illegal access to your website. Since hackers have gotten a lot smarter, this is a very important step that business owners should not miss if they are to stay ahead of the hackers and ensure that their websites and systems are well protected. The process is carried out by a cyber-security professional who uses all the means, techniques and tricks that a real-life criminal hacker will try to use to gain access to your website. It is important that one ensures that they choose a cyber-security professional who is very well experienced in all forms of penetration testing, if they are to get the best results. Here are some of the main reasons why one should perform penetration testing.
One is able to expose the weaknesses of the system before any real harm is done by real hackers through penetration testing hence this is one of its main advantages. The system is put through the same stresses as that of a criminal hacker by the professional, who then gives a detailed report of how they were able to access the system and what can be done to rectify the problem.
Through penetration testing, areas in the system that require extra security are revealed. The areas where the defense is weak will be exposed by pen testing, hence allowing one to take correction measure such as training the staff on the importance of using strong passwords if weak passwords are part of the weak defense.
One also gains an outside perspective on the security of the system. It is not enough to only rely on one’s IT experts to put up a strong defense as this can get one blind-sided in case of any blind spots. To avoid any mistakes, therefore, it is important to get an outside view by hiring a professional pen tester.
In the long run, this process will also save you money. One’s money is saved in two ways; one being that there is no danger of losing customers’ trust as a result of a breach in the customers’ data since any future breaches are prevented, and also, one’s money is protected from cyber theft especially if one does a lot of online transactions.
As seen above, therefore, pen testing is very important for your business and skipping this process means subjecting your business to a major unnecessary risk, more so, statistics show that most of the small businesses that have been subjected to cyber-crime were not able to fully recover and some even closed down as a result of the crime.