The Importance of Penetration Testing for Start-up Businesses
When you have a start-up business, you probably spend the majority of your time adapting your business plan, making contacts and trying to grow. It can be easy to get caught up in the detail, but this can be detrimental to the future of your start-up.
The key to success is to act and build for the business you want, not for the start-up that you have. To progress to an SME, the structure, finances and growth rate of your business will alter, but there are other steps to consider, too.
In order to allow your start-up to develop and to protect your business, utilise regular penetration testing early on (how often to pentest varies from company to company).
What is a Penetration Test?
Essentially, penetration testing attempts to create authentic online hacks, using techniques that attackers use every day. By doing so, these tests aim to assess the vulnerabilities of your company. This can be carried out in a variety of ways, from trying to gain access to systems through an IP address, or simply from an office address.
Unlike security assessments or vulnerability scans, a penetration test will not only uncover any weaknesses, but will then exploit them in order to accurately identify the scale of damage that could be done by a real-world hacker.
Why are Penetration Tests So Important?
1: They provide insight into how to stop an attack in its tracks and remove a hacker from the system. While most security systems focus on how to outwardly protect and prevent, penetration testing goes further to stop the damage in its tracks.
2: A penetration test often uncovers new areas of vulnerability that had not previously been considered as such. By highlighting these new routes of attack, you will be able to invest in new security measures.
3: Your business will have experience of dealing with an intrusion without the dangerous consequences, strengthening future approaches and helping to prevent attacks.
How To Select Your Test Provider:
As you are trusting your systems to a provider, it makes sense that to make sure that the testers are trustworthy. Accreditation from an industry body is key here, namely CREST.
In addition, to ensure that your penetration test truly evaluates the security of your business, opt for a service that provides both internal and external testing, such as Nettitude.
With the majority of businesses now operating online in one form or another, penetration testing is vital to ensure to prevent hackers from damaging your start-up and to protect as you progress to an SME.
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