Understanding Security testing

The advancements in computer technology have brought a number of benefits and challenges almost in equal measure. It is a common thing for computers to be attacked by viruses, malware and even hackers. Actually going online has become risky since any application or link that one clicks on has the potential of being malicious. Therefore one can never be too careful. Even though one can never have 100 % assurance that their system is secure, there are a number of ways that a person can use to ensure that they are protected. This includes use of antivirus, anti malware programs and even carrying out security testing. While antivirus and anti-malware protects the system from virus and malware attacks respectively, testing aims to ensure that the system is free from any loop hole that might compromise its safety.
At times organizations might be having in their possession confidential data or sensitive information. The organization needs to feel confident that the data stored on their system is only accessible to the relevant people. The aim of the testing is to try to identify and resolve any potential weakness that might lead to the data ending up in the wrong hands. Also, any possible security risk is detected and fixed through coding. There are a number of methods that the organization can use to ascertain the security level of their system. One such method is the pentest or penetration testing. Penetration testing is a method through which an attack from a malicious hacker is simulated or faked, in order to analyze the system security and identify areas where the system is vulnerable. For more information about penetration testing, you can visit this helpful site to learn more.
Another method is through vulnerability and security scanning. This method uses software to scan the system or network against weak signatures and provides solution that would minimize the possibility of the penetration threat. The scanning can be manual or automated. The organization could also carry out a risk assessment exercise. This would involve analyzing the risks that have been observed in the organization and classifying them as either low, moderate or high, and coming up with control measures. It might be necessary for the organization to also do a security audit so as to determine whether its applications and operating systems are flawed. A popular means of testing the security is through ethical hacking, where an organization pays a hacker to try and break into their defense mechanism, in order to identify the weak points.
Carrying out security testing can be quite costly and this is one reason why many business organizations do not think of it until after when their security has been compromised. Some business owners would argue that they are too small and they don’t require a security policy in place, while others say that there is no need to invest in such security since it does not have return on the investment. The truth is that although it will be costly to put in place the precaution measure, the actual amount resulting from an attack might be too enormous to quantify.