How to Choose the Right Vulnerability Management and Penetration Testing Solution

Vulnerability management and penetration testing are two of the most important security practices you can undertake (https://www.rootshellsecurity.net/vulnerability-management/). But, many organizations struggle to overcome the challenges presented by these
important processes.

In this post, we’ll discuss the unique challenges of vulnerability management and penetration testing, and how you can overcome them to secure your organization.

Vulnerability management is a cycle of processes and procedures that involve securing networks and systems by identifying and fixing system vulnerabilities (https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=1998559&seqNum=4).

It is often confused with vulnerability assessment which can be defined as the automated process of identifying, prioritizing, patching, and monitoring a specific vulnerability and is a part of vulnerability management.

Penetration testing is a rigorous process of human-led ethical hacking that involves exploiting actual vulnerabilities in the same way a malicious hacker would in order to expose the level of risk posed by a weakness in the system.

4 Reasons why Penetration Testing is Important.

1. Identifying actionable vulnerabilities

Penetration testing not only identifies a possible point of infiltration but also exploits the vulnerability simulating the depth and scope of the risk posed by the vulnerability.

A penetration test reveals the real-world impact the threat could pose to the enterprise and maps out the scale of damage that is posed should the vulnerability remain unfixed.

It is the best standard on which to design, implement or select a security solution for vulnerabilities in the system.

2. Saves on cost

This happens in two ways. Firstly, malicious hacking has the potential to cost enterprises and their clients significant losses when data, systems, and processes are compromised.

The financial and non-financial costs could be astronomical and penetration testing preemptively averts the possible events that could create this eventuality.

Penetration testing is not cheap but it is certainly less of a cost concern when compared to the cost of a malicious breach (https://blog.rsisecurity.com/what-is-the-average-cost-of-penetration-testing/).

Second, company resources are finite and penetration testing is the best way to discern which vulnerabilities should receive immediate and greatest input.

This way enterprises dedicate resources to actionable vulnerabilities in a timely manner before vulnerabilities become actual breaches.

3. Compliance with industry standards and best practice

Certain enterprises and increasingly more are required by law to conduct penetration testing on an annual basis at the very least to comply with regulations.

Some compliance modules include PCI DSS, HIPPA, and ISO 27001 all of which require annual penetration tests carried out on all networks and applications.

Annual penetration testing is business best practice in all sectors and in some organizations, bi-annual tests are carried out.

4. To avoid disruptions or total collapse of the enterprise

The impact and scale of a malicious breach can only be quantified by penetration testing. Even during the testing itself, business processes are disrupted as they would be in an actual malicious hacking scenario.

This means that an actual threat, should it occur, will disrupt vital service delivery and place the company and clients at risk.

The real loss, however, is the fallout that would follow such a real-world scenario.

Any organization will have a hard time reassuring clientele that the company is a capable partner if a malicious breach successfully accessed, stole, or ransomed information, or caused mayhem by disrupting business and services.

An organization’s entire business is premised on consumer and investor confidence. A security debacle like this would damage trust and possibly collapse the enterprise eventually.

Penetration testing is a vital security protocol that should be executed as often as is necessitated by business needs in the digital environment.

Choosing a Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing Solution

A VAPT solution will offer both vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. The optimal solution should satisfy the following preconditions.

Have a stellar track record in vulnerability management. Certifications are not the whole picture.
Be tailored to the industry in question. Specialized solutions may provide a more thorough report than a generalist’s solution. For instance, the hospitality industry utilizes different systems compared to military installations. Their solutions should be tailored to those needs.
Should be competitively priced to cater to continuous consultation and ROI.
Be flexible to accommodate business needs such as a system changeover or a fullscale network upgrade.

Vulnerability assessments and penetration testing

Vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be used together to achieve optimal vulnerability management goals. System security is a global phenomenon that is of growing concern (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740624X17300540).

The silver lining is that when implemented correctly vulnerability assessment and penetration testing successfully keep companies ahead of malicious infiltration attempts.

Author
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Kyle Bartlett

Lead PHP Developer and Founder of ZF Snippets at Zf Snippets

Kyle Bartlett is a software developer and the mastermind behind ZF Snippets. With extensive expertise in PHP and a deep understanding of the Zend Framework, Kyle has dedicated his career to simplifying and enhancing the development process for web applications.