In today’s business world, almost every aspect of any organisation requires technology. This covers every area of the business too, regardless of whether it’s a customer-facing process or an internal system. And because security always takes top priority, Aardwolf Security, one of the most trusted pen testing companies in the industry, is here to offer timely solutions to some of the most critical security issues businesses have to deal with.
Businesses today face a global audience that is highly tech-savvy. This means companies need a heightened level of security testing that takes care of those aspects that their usual cybersecurity protocols simply don’t cover anymore.
Risks That Businesses Face
Gone are the days when a simple firewall or antivirus system was enough to keep attackers at bay. Now, your business needs added security to protect itself from the many risks prevalent in any online or offline setting. A trusted pen testing company can help save any business from these potential threats. Otherwise, you are exposing it to a variety of dangers.
Unauthorised access to sensitive data
Imagine how much data is stored in any business system. All these are vulnerable to unauthorised access, especially if there are potential weak spots that can’t be seen from the organisation’s perspective. Particularly if data is supposed to be kept confidential by law, there is a potential risk of that information being exposed.
Data and identity theft
Any piece of data can be beneficial in the wrong set of hands. As long as there are undiscovered vulnerabilities in the system, there will always be a risk of someone stealing data and using it for their own personal, political, or economic gain. Even worse, stolen data can be impossible to retrieve. This means that in some cases, once the damage is done, there can be no turning back.
Loss of control over business systems
You will have seen countless cases in the media of businesses and organisations that have lost control over their own websites, pages, and systems. All that hackers need is a single entry point they can take advantage of. From there, they can easily take over and do as they please, usually resulting in the business being held responsible for any harm that is subsequently done.
Loss of credibility and authority
Possibly the biggest threat is losing credibility and authority, not just in the eyes of people within the same industry, but to the wider world as well. After all, how can potential clients, partners, and vendors trust a business that has system vulnerabilities? Organisations that have been impacted by security breaches before have all taken a beating not just in terms of profit, but in terms of their reputations as well.
These risks just aren’t worth taking. This makes penetration testing from Aardwolf Security even more important.
Different Forms of Penetration Testing and Their Importance
Penetration testing, otherwise known as a pen test, mimics what could happen in the event of a cyberattack. Think of it as allowing experts to do the same things a hacker would do to try and find potential risks in the system, but in a safe environment. Penetration testing companies help businesses strategise and find solutions to plug any holes currently left open.
Aardwolf Security offers different forms of penetration testing to ensure maximum protection for any business.
Web Application Penetration Testing
Websites are always at risk of being attacked, given that these are usually the public-facing side of any business. This is the most common entry point for attackers as they search for useful information that they can then use to gain further entry into the system.
With web application penetration testing, a team of experts can carry out a thorough sweep of an organisation’s website and web applications and pinpoint potential entry points that need to be addressed. This should ideally be done on a regular basis, because attackers are constantly adapting and employing new methods to destabilise networks and systems.
Network Penetration Testing
Network penetration testing is a deeper version of the web application pen test. Here, pentesting companies dive into the systems that support the entire infrastructure.
Networks are prone to cyberattacks simply because this is also a good way to access the most sensitive data an organisation keeps. Just like web application testing, network penetration testing should be carried out regularly to make sure the system stays protected against evolving threats.
Build Review
A black box assessment is usually done when testing new systems. Black box testing means that the person testing the system has no prior knowledge of the design and structure behind it. This means that no matter how thorough the testing is, there are possible areas that could be over- or under-scrutinised.
A build review is a form of white box testing where the people testing the system have a good background knowledge of every aspect of the system being checked. This test is more thorough and ensures that the entire network is assessed from the inside out, thus minimising the chances of any vulnerable points being missed.
Cloud Configuration Assessment
Cloud-based environments are cost-effective and convenient. However, they could also lead to sensitive data floating around, ready to be accessed and stolen if there’s the slightest security gap. A cloud configuration assessment looks at a business’ cloud structure and checks for any possible areas that could be easily breached.
Vulnerability Assessment
A vulnerability assessment is a basic scan of an organisation’s web and network security that aims to compile a list of potential vulnerabilities in the system. This is a good start-up test for businesses that want an overview of areas they need to improve or optimise. However, more thorough testing should still be done after this assessment to effectively zero in on specific solutions to unique business needs.
Social Engineering
Human error will always be an issue in any organisation. No matter how airtight your systems are, carelessness or a lack of knowledge could cause an employee to unknowingly create a breach that attackers can take advantage of. Social engineering is advantageous to businesses that have a large number of employees accessing their systems, not least if the staff turnover is high.
Code Review
The coding behind any system can cause problems that could potentially affect not just your security, but your operations as well. By performing code reviews, potential threats that may not be discovered by a regular pen test can be assessed and written off.
Red Team Assessment
To really find vulnerabilities that a hacker might take advantage of, the tester needs to think like a hacker. That’s what a red team assessment is about. It assesses a business’s security from all angles and from a hacker’s perspective. This means that the chances of finding even the smallest of vulnerabilities are higher, making it easier to lay out potential solutions.
Only the best penetration testing companies can perform these kinds of assessments in an optimal manner. Contact Aardwolf Security via 0203 5388 067 and start taking charge of your systems’ safety and security.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is involved in penetration testing?
Penetration testing (or pen testing) is the work a network pentesting professional carries out to attempt to discover and address security vulnerabilities within a business’ computer system. This “simulated” attack aims to expose any weak aspects in a system’s defences, which malicious entities could potentially target.
Are penetration testers in demand?
Because many businesses benefit from digital services and applications nowadays, there is a growing demand for assistance from the best penetration testing companies. Based on a recent report by CybersecurityVentures.com, the damage from cybercrime worldwide will have reached a financial cost of around $6 trillion (about £4 trillion) by 2021.
What is an example of penetration testing?
Penetration tests refer to any simulated cyber-attack carried out to check for susceptibilities to actual threats. In the context of web application security, penetration testing is commonly provided by top pentesting companies to augment a web application firewall (WAF).
For example, your pen tester could try to breach application systems such as APIs, back and frontend servers and so on, in an attempt to find any weaknesses.
Can penetration testers work remotely?
Remote working is fairly common among penetration testers and pen testing companies as the job is perfectly doable from anywhere, provided a reliable Internet connection is available. There is no need for any face-to-face interaction when working with a pen testing company.
How many types of penetration testing are there?
A network vulnerability assessment firm works to expose any vulnerabilities within an information and data system. To achieve this, there are three types of pen testing that can be used – namely Black Box Testing, White Box Testing, and Grey Box Testing.
How often should you pen test?
Working with top penetration testing companies on a regular basis is highly recommended to make sure that your business’s IT and network security is and remains in good shape. At the very least, a penetration test should be carried out once a year, although you may wish to commission more regular testing to guarantee better security.
Why is pen testing important?
With cyber-attacks becoming increasingly common in today’s climate, pen testing has become invaluable for businesses everywhere. Any organisation that has any kind of website or involvement in IT can benefit immensely from pen testing services. Without the help of an expert web application security firm, your business is much more vulnerable to opportunistic hackers around the globe.
What are examples of common security vulnerabilities?
The following are among the most prevalent Internet security threats today:
- Injection and authentication flaws
- Security misconfiguration
- Insecure direct object references
- Lack of function-level authorisation
- Exposure of sensitive data
- Insecure components
- CSRF
- Unfiltered redirects
If you want to guarantee the security of your business online, get in touch with the top pen testing companies in the UK today.
What is tested in a pentest?
Pentesting companies make use of various penetration tools to scan code. In the process, any malicious code that could potentially cause security breaches can be identified.
Alongside this, pen testing tools can be used to verify security vulnerabilities in your system. This is done by analysing your data encryption techniques to identify passwords, usernames, and other hard-coded values.
Benefits Of Cybersecurity Pentesting
Nowadays, security breaches continue to beset businesses in many environments, indicating that these threats are not likely to disappear any time soon. As a result, organisations must take critical steps to safeguard their confidential data.
Many organisations, even those with limited resources, invest in protecting their data, and one of the best methods to do this is penetration testing (pentesting). Although pentesting might not be a word that is common to a lot of people, for businesses, especially those with digital arms, there are numerous benefits to be derived from it.
- It adapts to your unique business model and security needs.
- It exposes threats through various techniques.
- It meets standard security regulations.
- It covers mandatory testing requirements.
- It reinforces stored credit card data security.
- It keeps sensitive personal information secure.
- It reports and manages crucial data processes.
Regardless of an organisation’s size and scope of impact, penetration testing can prove to be an extremely valuable tool. It can help all types of non-profit organisations and small businesses to ensure that their systems and data security are optimised and well-managed.
What To Expect From A Cyber Security Assessment
Classified as a form of ethical hacking, penetration testing has become an increasingly important type of cybersecurity assessment. By this definition, an ethical hacking firm attempts to expose vulnerabilities in applications as well as network systems. Its importance has increasingly risen among businesses as the negative impact of highly sophisticated cybercriminals on organisations is being recognised statistically across the world.
Penetration tests for your business offer the following important advantages:
- A clear and straightforward assessment scope.
- Testing is done by security experts and not just software.
- Communication throughout the process.
- Quality remediation solutions and strategies.
- A complete and detailed report.
Having a security system in place is simply not enough nowadays, because the ever-changing movement in the digital and cybersecurity field also means that hackers and cybercriminals are becoming more advanced and ready to exploit any vulnerabilities in an organisation’s network system.
Things To Ask About Network Pen Testing
As the threat of a massive network intrusion resulting in a potential meltdown is constantly growing, especially among businesses and organisations, the need for cybersecurity tools and techniques become more important by the day. But before you decide to hire a pentester, you need to make sure that they are the right fit for the job. Here are some of the essential questions to ask.
- Why should I get a penetration test?
- What does SQL injection mean?
- How do you intend to protect our data during and after testing?
- What are the phases of network penetration?
- What was your last role and project like?
- How does TLS and SSL work?
- How would you explain how an email works to a non-techy person?
- Describe what a threat model is and how would you go about designing one?
- Differentiate between a vulnerability scan, a risk analysis, and a penetration test.
- Do you use scripts to automate your tasks?
- What are the three parts of a TCP handshake?
Security is one of the most important areas any business or organisation should take into account. If your company doesn’t have a dedicated cyber security office, Aardwolf Security is here to ensure that you get the best pentesting services that you need for your network and application systems. Visit our page to get a quote today.