Throughout the years, we have conducted hundreds of penetration tests on companies across the globe. The tests we have performed have included large enterprises to small and medium sized businesses (SMB) and have taken place in practically every industry you can think of. The reasons these companies requested a penetration test are endless, but we have compiled the top 5 reasons we see for you here!

In no order.

Reacting to a Breach or Ransomware Attack

For many companies, the topic of the IT budget is a painful one, particularly when it comes to the IT security. IT security is usually the last topic to be discussed in a budget meeting and is rarely seen as a must have, more of a nice to have.

For reasons unknown, IT security often does not get the same attention as a budget for new equipment or for financial support for marketing and advertising. That is of course until a breach happens, then magically a budget for security becomes available. It is at that moment when the importance of a security budget becomes everyone’s reality.

If the company can dodge inquiry from their shareholders, their customers, and the press over the debacle, they are usually able to make a slow (but costly) recovery. It is costly due to the compressed timeline and urgency to get back up and running. The time to evaluate the damage, produce a cleanup plan, hastily procure equipment, and have it set up all comes at a premium.

Once the cleanup has been finalized, the company usually requires a yearly penetration test.

Compliance and cyber insurance

Every day, compliance plays a bigger role in IT security, as is cyber security insurance. While it is often not mandatory for many companies, attaining a security compliance is desirable for a few reasons.

It helps organizations establish guidelines and goals for the company’s overall security posture. It creates awareness throughout the company and with its employees that they are taking security very seriously. It boosts consumer confidence as well as satisfies vendors and suppliers concerns.

Some insurance companies are also recommending that penetration testing be part of the company’s annual security plan to reduce the insurance premium.

Both compliance and insurance requirements are reason enough for many companies to consider a penetration test.

Budget allocation

As the need for IT security is increasing, so are the budgetary requirements. For many companies the decision to purchase security products or services lies with the IT team and their evaluation of what they feel needs the most attention. In other words, where they “feel” they are most vulnerable.

This evaluation leads to the research and purchase of what the team feel will add the most value to the effort of bolstering their security. Seems logical, until you encounter a hacker that conducts their own “evaluation” of your security and finds a weakness or gap in your plan that your team has overlooked.

Many companies are realizing that the best way to evaluate the resilience of your infrastructure is to have it tested by a hacker, aka, a security consulting company (like SecuSolutions!). The report that is produced will identify where you need to focus and recommend where to spend the money. It may turn out that the money you had allocated for a certain device or software, or service was not merited, and better spent on the weakness the hacker found instead.

The amount you pay for a penetration test will probably be a fraction of what you intended on spending on the technology you thought you needed.

Peace of Mind

For many of our customers, a penetration test is conducted for peace of mind. They realize that bad things can happen, and while they trust their IT team, they realize that they are not security experts and that a specific level of security expertise is required to assure them that everything is okay with their infrastructure. This proactive measure has saved so many companies corporate bacon we’ve lost count. Pen tests can be compared to a yearly physical exam. You may be healthy but getting a checkup is reassuring and gives you peace of mind.

Validation

Last on our list is probably the top reason companies have us perform a penetration test. In many instances, companies have spent a considerable amount of money on security hardware, software, services, monitoring etc. They simply want to know that it is all working as intended. In our view, this is the most responsible approach to sound security.

Consider that most systems are being set up and configured by the hardware of software vendor you purchased the product or service from. They of course will have you believe that their product is superior to most and that it has been set up properly and is working like it should be…

For these companies, “believing” everything they are being told is usually taken with a grain of salt (and a pinch of doubt). These companies cannot afford chance, and need to validate that the systems they have are working to protect and detect their systems.

Last year, we conducted an average of 4 penetration tests per month. Of those penetration tests, we achieved full compromise on all but one customer. In most cases we validated multiple critical attack vectors.

What does this mean you ask? It simply means that despite the money being spent on security software, hardware, monitoring and end point protection, a talented hacker will likely get through. They will get through due to some oversight made by a vendor in set up, or some configuration issue that has left the doors wide open to attack.

There is no better way to “validate” your security spend than through a penetration test. Period.

It will be by far the best use of your IT security budget.

As always, if you would like to know what a penetration test would look like for your organization, reach out to us for a free consultation and quote.