Cyber Security at My Company: How Does a Pentest Help?
In this blog, we discuss the route toward a digitally safer company. Carrying out a pentest offers several benefits for your organization.
Many companies are working on cyber security — a good development given the rising number of cyber incidents. Yet at Tozetta, we see enormous differences in the cyber security measures organizations take. Where organization X focuses more on training staff, organization Y has implemented more technical cyber security solutions. As a business owner or a member of the management team, you might be wondering: "Where does our organization stand when it comes to cyber security?" In this blog, we try to answer that question for you.
Is my company cyber secure?
Get it pentested! Who better to tell you whether your cyber security is in order than a hacker? Wait a moment before we continue... By "hacker" we don't mean a cybercriminal. In everyday language, we also know these hackers as "ethical hackers". These hackers use their knowledge and expertise to make vulnerabilities in a company's cyber security visible. When you bring in a hacker, they can simulate an actual attack to inform you about your organization's current cyber security. We call such an assignment a pentest.
What is a pentest?
A pentest, short for penetration test, is a controlled cyberattack carried out by professional hackers. The goal is to identify weaknesses in your digital assets before malicious hackers do. Through pentesting, you get a clear picture of where your cyber security falls short and which steps you need to take to improve it. Want to know more about a pentest? Read more on our Pentest page.
Why carry out a pentest?
We've just read that a pentest is carried out by a hacker. This hacker tries to simulate an actual cyberattack and can thereby expose vulnerabilities in your software and systems. Yet a pentest can offer much more value than simply making vulnerabilities in software and systems visible.
Awareness
Many people find hacking an exciting topic. Internally, you can let it be known that a hacker is going to digitally try to break into the organization (this can also be communicated afterward). By sharing findings and explaining the approach, you'll see that the entire organization can benefit from this. The people responsible for IT (partners or colleagues) can also learn a great deal from a different way of thinking. During a pentest, a hacker investigates from an attacker's perspective how they can hack your organization, while the perspective of the IT partner and/or IT colleagues is from a defender's perspective.
Compliance
Depending on your sector, there may be legal requirements your company needs to meet. Has a potential client ever asked about an ISO 27001 certificate? Or has a client ever asked what you do for cyber security? By carrying out a pentest, you show that you take your digital security seriously. Under ISO 27001, pentesting is itself part of the process. We recently wrote a blog about the importance of pentesting within IT compliance.
Improving your cyber security
By proactively searching for vulnerabilities in software and systems, your organization can improve its cyber security. The more vulnerabilities are fixed, the smaller the chance of a hack. Keep in mind that a hack can unfortunately never be prevented 100%. You can, however, resolve as many issues as possible, reducing the chance that a cybercriminal will still find a vulnerability.
When should you carry out a pentest?
Carrying out a pentest is a great starting point for significantly improving your cyber security. If you want to know where your organization stands, a pentest can tell you very well where improvements need to be made. This naturally helps in determining where your organization needs to go in terms of cyber security.
A pentest can also be very interesting right after a new IT infrastructure, new website, mobile app, or a piece of custom software has been delivered. Just make sure to do this with an independent party, and not with the partner or organization that delivered the digital product to you. Otherwise you get a butcher grading his own meat, right?
Pentesting at Tozetta
A pentest at Tozetta is independent. We don't offer cyber security solutions and have no interest in selling security solutions. We focus solely on simulating an actual attack so we can share our findings with you.
The end product is a pentest report that's understandable to read for both management (via an executive summary) and the IT partner. We indicate how you can resolve certain issues and vulnerabilities. Sometimes these are easy fixes, like performing a software update. Sometimes it's a bit more advanced, and you may still need your existing IT partner.
We're always willing to discuss the report afterward and offer advice on possible solutions. But you'll never catch us trying to sell a firewall or other security tooling.
At Tozetta, we always offer 1 hour of pentesting for free to determine the possible scope of an investigation. After this hour, you'll receive a report including a quote for an assignment. All entirely without obligation, of course! Read more about a QuickScan below!