If you’re looking to ensure your own digital safety in the constantly growing dangers online, you will need penetration testing. But what is it? What does a penetration tester do and how does it help your application or game?   

Penetration Testing Explained

Penetration testing is a process of ethical hacking, this simply means it is a process where the hackers are doing it for good reasons rather than malicious gains or harm. It is a straightforward process conducted by penetration testers, each of whom are dedicated security engineers. Individuals who know the typical vulnerabilities, where to look, and what might be abused by malicious actors.   It is the process where your system and its security are tested for vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Once these are discovered, documented, and repeated, they are passed on to you and your security team.   With Cyrex, a detailed security report is prepared informing you of each vulnerability discovered, where it is found, and our evaluation of its severity. In the event you don’t have your own security specialists, the Cyrex team are more than able to assist and increase your digital safety.  

Why do I need Penetration Testing?

There are a variety of reasons why you need and benefit from strong penetration testing services.  

1. Protect your Reputation

Aside from the obvious financial losses and any stolen data, your reputation will take a huge hit following any successful hack. Customer faith is difficult to gain but it’s almost impossible earn back if they feel betrayed. A more tangible loss follows this reputation damage as any compromised data will likely incur GDPR fines or HIPAA violations if you’re in healthcare.  

2. Compliance and Regulation

As mentioned above, there are regulatory bodies that ascribe a certain level of security. There are requirements to ensure you meet the minimum level of security and safety for clients’ privacy. A penetration test, complete with its results and your actions following it, are often required.  

3. Customer Requirements

If you’re ever looking to sell your application or service to a larger body, there will no doubt be a checklist and requirements to fulfil. Digital security and a recent penetration test are often included. To ensure you’re as appealing to every side of the market, high-quality penetration testing services are invaluable.  

4. Maturing your Environment

Focusing on risk awareness and management is key in growing your application and company. Ensuring you keep your infrastructure and software moving and improving is integral in success and safety. Being aware of the risks is only half of the fight, we hope that with our help you be in control of the risks as well. Penetration testing will help in the quality delivery of your digital service or product.  

5. Sharing and Learning

One benefit that is not strictly limited to the security improvements of a penetration test is the increased learning and awareness of both teams. Collaboration and cooperation among separate teams allows everyone involved to transfer knowledge, expertise, and experiences. Our team and your own security team will grow in capability having been exposed to one another’s work and methodologies.   

Types of Penetration Testing

These types of security services are often broken down into three categories. Black, grey, and white box testing. Respectively, they simply mark the level of transparency and information giving to the security engineers for the test itself.   Black box testing is as close as you can get to a real-world hacking attempt. Without any prior knowledge of your system – security engineers will attempt to penetrate your security and discover as many vulnerabilities as they can. While this might seem like an ideal situation, a real-world example, it does mean the penetration testers have chances of missing security weaknesses or vulnerabilities.   Grey box testing is the middle ground. Some information, permissions, and documentation is passed to the penetration testers. This is a better test of your security as the testers will have much more leeway in what they can target and the time it takes to do so.   Lastly, white box testing. This is the most comprehensive and complete penetration test. Full source code access and documentation mean the security team know every nook and cranny. This means they have a far greater chance of discovering security vulnerabilities and weaknesses. At Cyrex, we recommended this type of penetration test given how thorough it is and how much safer our clients are once its solutions are implemented.   We hope this explanation of penetration tests has helped those who were unfamiliar with the process. If you’re looking for the gold-standard of penetration testing services, look no further than Cyrex. Our pair hacking methods mean our ethical hackers work just like hackers in the real-world. Twice the results in the same amount of time!   Get in touch with us today and step up your digital security game. To see more of our work, from load testing and security engagements, check out our portfolio as well.