What is penetration testing?
Penetration testing is a simulated real-time cyberattack that is orchestrated in secure conditions to check the strength of web application security, identify gaps in the systems, networks, and applications and detect exploitable vulnerabilities and loopholes.
Web application and website penetration testing involve the breaching of frontend and backend servers, application protocol interfaces, etc. by certified security professionals to unearth and detect vulnerabilities and un-sanitized inputs that are susceptible to malicious code injections, unauthorized entries, attacks, etc.
Reasons why your business needs penetration testing
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Prepare for the possible
It is important to note that small businesses are high up the target list of hackers with over 50% of small businesses facing some form of cyber-attack in the US. If they are not well-prepared, then they may even be forced to shut down completely.
2. Strengthen your cybersecurity
By simulating/recreating a real-attack situation, penetration testing reveals the strengths, weaknesses, and status/performance of your security measures and infrastructure. When done by certified external experts like Patron you will gain an invaluable outsider perspective on web application security. Upon getting these insights, businesses can strengthen their cybersecurity strategy and risk mitigation plans, making them proactive, understanding areas that need strengthening and those that need more investment/attention, and so on.
3. Cost of hacks and attacks is high
The cost of Security Breaches and attacks is not limited to the monetary costs such as remediation costs, escalation costs, etc. but the losses permeating from the downtimes, poor network performance, loss of brand image, reputation, loyalty, and most importantly, customers. The latter things affect businesses in the long-term. By continuously detecting and monitoring web applications for loopholes and gaps, you can save costs and ensure the long-term sustainability of your business.
4. Compliance with security regulations
With the number of regulations with respect to customer data and data security, pen-testing will enable businesses to comply with such regulations. For instance, GDPR guidelines, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), etc.
It is, therefore, essential that pen-testing is done by certified security experts as they will be able to best use the security testing tools while leveraging automation and other technology to help businesses to continuously detect, protect and test their web application security and performance.