Hey, Buddy, Is Your System Safe?
Like a thief in the night, someone is scanning your network. They are looking for the weaknesses in your applications and in your infrastructure. With patience and some meddling, they slowly begin to understand how it is set up. Now they can begin to exploit those weaknesses, taking their time and trying to find their way in without being detected. If they get in, they could trash your system, steal your data, or even hijack control of your network. They steadily work at it, and with a little more maneuvering, they’re just about in. Will they make it?
This sounds like a nightmare, but what if it was actually a good guy trying to break in to your network? That’s what penetration testing is all about. Penetration testing is when you purposefully try to break into your own system in order to determine if there are security gaps. No matter how tight security is around your network, there may be some loopholes that you just don’t know about until you actually try to hack your way in.
The major difference, of course, is that when someone you trust is attempting to penetrate your system, you know there will be no damage. Instead, they will use the information they gather to further secure and update any weaknesses they find. By pretending to be an attacker, they can find loopholes you may never have known existed.
Could your network use a little covert penetration testing? Chances are, it could. You may be surprised at the weaknesses you find – and wouldn’t you rather the person breaking in be working for you?
Daniel Gottilla author
About the author