The Golden Age of Automated Penetration Testing is Here!

Network penetration testing is critical for identifying exploitable flaws. The present technique of performing pen testing is expensive, therefore many businesses only do it when necessary, usually once a year to meet compliance requirements. This manual approach frequently overlooks opportunities to identify and address security vulnerabilities early on, leaving firms vulnerable to costly cyberattacks and potential breaches. However, new technologies based on automation and AI have transformed the process, making frequent network pentesting simple and economical. We are now in the golden age of pentesting, in which any organization may assess the security of its networks without breaking the bank.

Automating penetration testing is revolutionary

Automation in cybersecurity is starting to gain traction and will continue to do so. These days, automation is necessary to help deal with the shortage of cybersecurity experts in the field. Even with some assistance from outside agencies or contractors, businesses are still unable to fully meet all of their security requirements with just their workforce. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the United States projects that by 2025, over half of all significant cybersecurity issues will be the result of a shortage of cybersecurity professionals and plain old negligence.

Investing in AI and security automation can revolutionize the way businesses strengthen their cyber defenses without needing to hire a large number of additional staff members. Automating security is a wise decision since it is more cost-effective, quicker, and equally effective as the traditional manual method—especially in lean times. The security benefits of automated pentesting are unmatched, and it comes at a much lower cost than manual pen testing. Businesses can now choose to use automated pen tests that are frequent, accurate, and affordable, giving them the ability to identify vulnerabilities and reduce risk in advance.

8 Advantages of Automated Network Pentesting

Network penetration testing is critical for keeping a company's network secure and prepared for whatever hackers may throw at it. Here's a quick breakdown of eight advantages that a business gains by routinely assessing their networks via pentesting.

1. Finding and Fixing Weak Spots: Regular pen tests assist IT professionals in detecting issues in your networks and devices before the bad guys do. This means you can patch things up or work around weaknesses, making it more difficult for hackers to break in or steal data.
   
   
2. Catching What Other Tools Miss: Pen tests replicate real hacker attacks, revealing security flaws that vulnerability checks may miss. This includes verifying all of the elements that could lead to an incursion, such as ensuring that your user permissions are tight and that your security policies are effective in practice.
   
   
3. Identifying areas for improvement in operations: It's more than just technology. Pen testing can also reveal gaps in a company's security policies, employee awareness, or reaction times. Fixing these issues strengthens and improves an organization's overall security.
   
   
4. Avoiding Downtime and Money Loss: Detecting vulnerabilities early on helps firms avoid damaging cyberattacks and breaches that might cost a company a fortune in terms of money and time spent offline. Consider avoiding legal difficulties, fines, and the price of cleaning up a mess, not to mention preserving your good name and customer trust. According to a Kaseya survey from 2023, more over half of the IT professionals asked reported that their firm had lost more than $50,000 due to cybersecurity problems.
   
   
5. Staying On the Right Side of Regulators: Data protection legislation have proliferated at both the regional and national levels. Additionally, insurers may require regular security checks in order to issue and maintain cyber insurance coverage. Those guidelines frequently include pen tests.
   
   
6. Getting Inside a Hacker's Mind: Pen tests provide insight into how attackers think and what methods they employ, giving IT professionals the advantage they need to strengthen their company's defenses and shift the entire organization to a security-first culture.
   
   
7. Putting Your Incident strategy to the Test: You can utilize pen testing to see if your attack response strategy works in practice. It's all about being prepared to detect, manage, and recover from security incidents. A tested incident response plan can reduce event costs by 35%.
   
   
8. Making Your consumers Feel Secure: Regular pen tests can demonstrate your commitment to security and increase your consumers' faith in you. People want to know that their data is safe.
   

Do not fall into the trap of just pentesting for compliance.

Simply performing network pen testing once a year to check a box is insufficient these days. Today's cyber threats evolve with breakneck speed. A reactive approach exposes a lot of gaps in a company's defense that unscrupulous actors could exploit. Waiting too long between pen tests means a corporation may not detect readily repaired flaws until hackers have already taken advantage, resulting in an expensive cybersecurity nightmare.

Just doing the bare minimum to meet compliance regulations is insufficient to combat the new, sophisticated cyberattacks that fraudsters are launching at an unprecedented rate. The widespread availability of AI has transformed much more than only cybersecurity. It has also transformed cybercrime. Companies must be prepared for the inundation of fresh cyber dangers.

Why should I do frequent pen tests?

Automation has made now the ideal time for businesses to commit to regular network pen testing. Here's why every organization should begin implementing automated network pentesting immediately:

• It saves money - Automated network pen testing is far less expensive than traditional manual methods. Previously, a corporation had to engage highly specialized workers or outsource the task, which was both time-consuming and costly. Not anymore. With automation, IT pros can do pen tests more frequently and, more importantly, on a dime.
  
  
• You can scan more frequently - The digital world is always changing, and new vulnerabilities emerge. Automation allows you to conduct pen tests much more frequently, keeping an eye out for any issues. Automated tools, such as Vonahi Security's vPenTest, can examine your systems and networks significantly faster than a single human with no IT team strain.
  
  
• Better quality and consistency - Automated pen testing is accurate every time, repeating the same checks without human error. These technologies are quite accurate, identifying problems and providing IT professionals with detailed instructions on how to resolve them. This not only improves the quality of a company's security assessments, but it also allows the IT team to track progress over time.

Source: The Hacker News