The consequences of ignoring penetration testing

A penetration test or pen test is an authorized simulated cyber attack on a computer system, performed to look at the security of a system.They are important security measures in order to prevent massive data breaches and to protect private information.You don’t want to ignore penetration test as they are important in detecting vulnerabilities in your company’s cyber security

Example number 1 The Target Data Breach

In 2013 the retail juggernaut experienced cyber criminals stealing over 40 million credit and debit records. The breach was caused by a vulnerability in its payment card processing system. It wasn’t the biggest breach in history, but it definitely was one of the largest. After the breach occurred Target performed a late penetration test and was able to find what was the problem with their systems. The test revealed an unsecured server and weak passwords were the issue. After the test Target was able to fix these issues and regain its cybersecurity. If Target had never ignored penetration tests in the first place it would have never had to pay out 18.5 million in settlements.

Example number 2 The Canadian Government Security Breach

In 2019 the Canadian government experienced a security breach that compromised over 9,000 individuals’ personal information. After the breach the Canadian government hired a team of experts to conduct a penetration test. The test found numerous weaknesses that could have been taken advantage of by attackers trying to steal the government’s secret data. The pen test stopped any more personal attacks and improved their cybersecurity overall.

Equifax data breach.

In September 2017 Equifax made known of a Data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. It’s one of the most significant data breaches in history, also it has included over 425 million dollars in settlements to those affected by the breach. In addition to the settlements an extra 300 million in Fines. Now they did hire a third party to do a penetration test, but it was not thorough. The third-party vendor missed an important vulnerability which resulted in cyber attackers gaining access to the company’s sensitive data. If they had made sure to conduct a detailed meticulous penetration test the security weakness would have been identified and remediated. It could have spared the credit company over 700 million dollars in fines and settlements.

In conclusion, never ignore penetration tests, similar to ethical hacking but on a smaller scope. They are important to a business’s cyber security. These tests are not a onetime event, they must be done routinely in order to address new threats and quickly deal with them. Always work with a reputable testing service provider like ITASC and ensure your company’s peace of mind.