The Best Defence is a Good Offence

Assess your overall security before attackers do.?We all live in a digital economy and a lesser know fact is that over half the traffic on the internet is of a criminal nature.

It is also a fact of life that data breaches are on the rise, rising from 66.9 million records exposed in 2005 to 1.66 billion in 2021. Source:?Https://iftheFTcenter.org/data-breaches/

61% of small and medium businesses are now being hit by cyber attacks every year and the average costs of a cyber-attack has increased making it extremely difficult for businesses to recover.

How do Data Breaches Occur?

A data breach occurs when the cyber criminal community infiltrate a data source and extract confidential information that does not belong to them.?This can be done by gaining access to your computer or network to steal local files or by bypassing your network security remotely.?

The most common attacks are:

The best defence is a good offence and offensive security includes vulnerability assessments and penetration testing.

Penetration testing goes beyond a cybersecurity audit by trying to breach your system like a hacker. Our testing process will replicate methods deployed by hackers to determine if your infrastructure could withstand such an attack. Penetration testing, along with a cyber audit, will provide you with a full 360 degree analysis of how secure your systems are.?If you want to understand the full cyber security risk that is present in your business currently, a cyber audit and a penetration test combined will give you the full 360 view. To find out more about the most common threats that you should be worried about, we recommend you take a look at our easy to read guide on the 9 most terrifying types of malware >?click here?and, if you are interested in a Cyber Security Audit to aid your initial understanding of your business’s vulnerabilities and expert advice on how to mitigate your risk,?get in touch.

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing is a simulated attack on your data, network, applications, and systems that helps you proactively identify potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities.?They actively attempt to exploit any vulnerabilities discovered in your infrastructure.?Corbel, based in Ipswich who are?IT Support?and?Cyber Security Experts?are then able to work with you to explain what the vulnerability means, the level of threat to you and the potential impact.?Most importantly we can then provide you with strategic advice on how to counter these measures either by working with your IT Support company or remediating with your internal team.

Why Do I need a Penetration Test?

A penetration test allows your business to see your cyber security position based on realistic attack scenarios, which then enables you to address issues that could be overlooked if you solely follow a defensive approach.?A penetration test can help you reveal critical security weaknesses.

Different Types of Penetration Testing

Internal Pen test

The internal penetration tests focus on testing assaults which could be undertaken by an adversary who has already gained entry to your network and is then looking to elevate themselves to gain further control and cause more damage.

It also helps protect you from the malicious insider – perhaps a disgruntled team member that wants to hypothetically cause you damage to areas of your business outside of their usual access level.

To undertake this test, we would need to be given access similar to that of your team and we would then attempt to gain access to sensitive information through privileged users accounts or by finding a way to circumvent the access controls that you have in place.

External Pen Test

An external penetration test is designed to test the effectiveness of your perimeter security controls to help you prevent and detect attacks. This type of test also helps you to identify weakness in any internet facing assets such as FTP servers, mail, and web servers.

An external test will attempt to gain entry into your internal network by leveraging any vulnerabilities on your external assets.

This would typically cover open ports and vulnerabilities.

Why Penetration Testing Works?

Penetration testing is effective in uncovering ways in which Cyber Criminals can break into and move across your network to sell, manipulate, access and damage your company data and the key systems that serve your organisation.?

You can then remediate these vulnerabilities and re-test to make sure that you are as secure as possible.

Penetration Testing is worth every penny

Using the results of a penetration test, your business can identify ways to protect its most valuable data by reducing the number of attack surfaces and accessible paths into your systems.

Here at?Corbel?in Ipswich we utilise the latest technology that helps our team perform penetration testing more efficiently and effectively and those savings are directly passed on to you.

Our solution provides Penetration testing as a one-off service or as a continuous monthly service that can give you real time tracking of attacks.

Our service allows you to stay in the know, rather than hope for the best, and allows you to meet compliance standards and ensure your systems are set up to industry best practices.

The main reason penetration tests are vital to an organisation’s security is that?they help you or your?IT Provider?learn how to handle any type of break-in from a malicious entity.?Penetration tests?serve to examine whether your current policies are genuinely effective.?If they do not meet the required best practice, you are armed with the information to make any necessary change.

Penetration testing is part of a multi layered approach to?Cyber Security, just as important is creating the right culture in your business, read our handy guide?How to make Cyber Security a Solid part of your Business Culture

Corbel based in Ipswich offer?IT Support?to businesses in the Ipswich, Felixstowe and surrounding Suffolk area and are?Cyber Security Experts.?If you want to have a chat around an audit or a Penetration test of your infrastructure, please call us on 01473 241515 and have a chat with our team.