5 Unmistakable benefits of network penetration testing for Ghanaian businesses

Across every industry, organizations of all sizes are struggling to protect themselves from the rising tide of cyberattacks. Long gone are the days when antivirus and firewalls were enough to keep your systems safe from the variety and complexity of today’s threats. Businesses need to take a multilayered approach to data security and ensure that it remains central to their overall technology strategies.

Penetration testing is a highly effective way to improve your overall security strategy. It’s a specialized exercise that involves white-hat hackers attempting to gain access to your systems using the same methods that cybercriminals would use to identify any potential vulnerabilities and demonstrate the real-world risks that today’s corporations face.

As unnerving as it might sound, network penetration testing offers many key benefits:

#1. Reveal vulnerabilities

Some of the most dangerous cyberattacks are those targeted towards specific organizations and carried out by skilled and patient hackers over an extended time period. These so-called “advanced persistent threats” are the digital equivalent of casing a house before a robbery in that they both search for vulnerabilities to exploit. Penetration testing is similar to these tactics; the only difference is trusted experts are hired to expose vulnerable access points into your network.

#2. Demonstrate real-world risks

Oftentimes, businesses don’t protect themselves against the biggest risks. Although a certain attack might be extremely high risk, it might be all but impossible to execute. Penetration testing is all about finding the vulnerabilities that can be exploited by demonstrating the real-world tactics cybercriminals themselves use. Since it involves a human analysis of your systems, it eliminates false positives from automated tools and raises awareness about the vulnerabilities that are most likely to be exploited.

#3. Enhance business continuity

The high-profile ransomware attacks of the past couple of years have proven that even the world’s largest and best-known organizations are unprepared for the threats facing them. Penetration testing helps protect your business by revealing real risks that can disrupt your workforce and systems anytime.

Knowing about these risks can greatly help you in your business continuity (BC) planning, a process where business risks are determined and plans to mitigate them are designed.

#4. Follow compliance regulations

You can’t expect to stay on top of your compliance and security obligations if you don’t have complete visibility into your technology infrastructure and the threats that face it. Penetration testing helps you identify potential breaches of compliance before it’s too late. Furthermore, some industry regulations, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) and ISO27001 require companies to perform penetration tests against their information-bearing systems. Just remember, the tests have no value unless the vulnerabilities they reveal are fixed.

#5. Get an expert opinion

Not all cybercriminals are unskilled and uneducated spammers carrying out attacks en masse, hoping that just a handful of unwitting victims will take the bait. In fact, the most dangerous hackers are those who target specific organizations and even nation states. They have unique skill sets that can only be countered by those who have an in-depth understanding of how they operate and the methods they use. Penetration tests are carried out by white-hat hackers with similar skill sets, and there’s no substitute for firsthand experience when it comes to keeping your business safe.

Zentech IT Solutions provides cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions and expertise to businesses in Accra. Our penetration tests will reveal vulnerabilities fast and help you eliminate threats before it’s too late. Call us today to get started.