In principle, the more valuable your data is, the more threatening an attack is. Authorities and banks that manage a variety of valuable personal customer information are just as attractive to criminals as successful companies that possess valuable data on their servers. However, if you are managing data or projects in your network that aren’t as valuable, you shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Whether you run a web store or merchandise management systems on a server in the network, run an informative web project with lots of posts, or simply use the network as a work platform, you can also fall victim to hackers who can:
- Paralyze your web projects or work space
- Get their hands on the network user’s valuable passwords
- Infiltrate malware
- Steal log-in data from customer accounts
- Misuse computer systems in your network.
Apart from economic consequences, this can also damage your company’s reputation if customers are affected or the attack becomes public knowledge.
If you choose to perform a penetration test on your network, you shouldn’t carry out the attacks against your own computer system and applications yourself, but rather enlist the help of an expert. The tests require professional competence in the field: penetration tests can possess different intensities and quickly lead to complications or serious damage if performed incorrectly. It is therefore necessary to find the perfect balance between the necessary attack route and exploitation of respective weak points that can be avoided. In addition, an external tester who hasn’t been involved in the network conception, construction, and administration, is favored, since they are impartial and can see things from a different angle.
Any type of penetration testing assumes that you are the owner of the tested network or at least have the appropriate authorization. Cooperating with an external tester is therefore absolutely essential for a contractual arrangement, in which the duration and intensity of the pen tests, as well as data protection measures, and more, are recorded.