Pen testing for websites, cloud systems and applications
Penetration Testing
Penetration testing or pen testing is the process of using automated, intelligent tools to test your websites, APIs and other online systems against known vulnerabilities. A good pen testing system will replicate the threats that your endpoints are likely to face without causing unnecessary resource usage or damage to your system whilst running such tests. Once tests are complete, the platform will report back on any issues found, the level of severity it has attributed to any issues and (ideally) steps to take to mitigate or remove the threat.
Protect Your Online Systems
Efficient testing means robust third party platforms with tests run at sufficiently frequency. What a business is looking for from this endpoint testing is advanced notice of weaknesses – ideally well before any bad actor has time to exploit them.
Comprehensive testing tools
Setup and operation support
Proven testing systems used by corporations and governments
Does this apply to my business?
Almost all businesses and organisations will have some form of exposure to the wider Internet. Penetration and vulnerability testing focuses on those system endpoints that are exposed to the Internet rather than those individual user devices which are connected to the Internet such as staff PCs.
By system endpoints we mean servers and applications such as websites, APIs, portals, staff management tools; in fact anything that you expect your customers or your employees to connect to via the Internet. It’s also worth bearing in mind that websites and platforms that are not commonly used or in a state of disuse or development are still likely targets for attackers.
Therefore, a small business is likely to at least have one website which can be considered open to the Internet and potential attack; whereas a large organisation may have multiple public and staff-based platforms and websites as well as APIs and other systems designed for machine to machine communication. All these types of systems need to be secure from external threats.
Mapping Your Endpoints
If you would like assistance understanding your exposure to online threats, please contact us. You can also use online tools like the ones below to start understanding the different services and structures linked to your website..
Vulnerability Testing as part of the Software Life Cycle
With some vulnerability testing platforms it’s also possible to review code before it’s published. The testing platform will analyse the code and look for known vulnerabilities within it or poor coding practices that may lead to vulnerabilities. In order for this to work efficiently it’s possible to give access to code repositories to the vulnerability testing tool so that it can report back potential weaknesses before the software is even published.
Find out more about dynamic application security testing (DAST).