Business Security: Your Company Can Benefit From the Power of Penetration Testing

Business Security: Your Company Can Benefit From the Power of Penetration Testing

When you think of data security, what do you normally think of? Most businesses focus on their network and assume that basic security measures are fine. But, unless you do penetration testing, you really have no clue whether your company is safe. Here are a few reasons why you should consider doing one this year.

Prevent Expensive Service Interruptions

Security breaches are costly and can result in direct financial losses. It could even threaten the solvency of the company. At the very least, it could ruin the company’s reputation, erode customer trust, and attract negative press.

A study done by the Ponemon Institute showed that the average cost of a data breach is £2,241,434 ($3.5 million). Ongoing data breach costs associated with the retail giant Target that occurred in 2013 topped $148 million (£98) by the second quarter of 2014.

Protect Your Data

Protecting your data is important. But, it’s not always possible to do. According to some firms, testing should be done on both the network and laptops. Sec Tec penetration testing, for example, focuses on network and server security, but the company also acknowledges that the biggest threat today is actually desktops through local applications.

Apps are such a big threat because more and more companies are relying on them, or allowing employees to install them on devices, or are allowing BYOD (bring your own device) in the office, where applications can access the network.

Data breaches occur when these apps install malicious code, or act in unexpected ways, collecting data from the server and reporting it back to third-party companies.

Improve Existing Security Protocols

Improving existing security protocols is always important. You should make employee training a top priority in your company. Make sure employees understand how to encrypt and send data, even when it’s on the local network.

Employ strict encryption standards for all filesystems and data. If you  don’t have an encryption system set up, make sure you get one immediately, and work with your IT department.

Meet Regulatory Guidelines

Some industries must meet strict regulatory guidelines. For example, companies in the healthcare sector must take additional steps to protect client data, which may contain personal health information.
Companies in the financial sector will need to protect client financial information. But, if a company collects and stores credit card information, or other personal financial information, it needs to comply with international PCI standards and compliance. So, security isn’t an option.

Preserve Your Image and Reputation

By allowing data breaches, or failing to patch holes in your company’s security infrastructure, you open yourself up to criticism – not the kind that you can easily recover from either.

One of the ways in which business reputations are ruined is by allowing breaches to occur and client data to be compromised when it was known in advance that a security hole was present. There have been cases where data was not compromised electronically but physical records of data were. In a case where you have physical copies of secure data, you need to consult with a company like Paper Shredding Pros to ensure that all paper data is properly dealt with. Otherwise your company can be looking at being held responsible for privacy violations and possible issues with stolen identities.

And, this is probably the worst possible thing for a company, because without customer trust, you don’t have sales. Without sales, you don’t have a business.

Irene Little is a Freelance data security consultant. She enjoys the opportunity to offer her insights with an online audience and her thoughts can be found across a number of relevant websites.