Published on December 6th, 2018 | by Sunit Nandi

4 Reasons Why Penetration Testing is Essential For Your Small Business

Having a functional and reliable IT infrastructure is something all business owners should view as a priority. Unfortunately, a recent study found that only around 2 percent of business owners view network and IT security as a priority. This perceived lack of importance generally leads to data hacks that put both a business and their customers at risk.

The only way to ensure your existing network security is adequate is by having it tested regularly. With the help of IT professionals, like the ones at Alpine Security, you can have network penetration tests performed with ease.

The following are just some of the reasons why having these penetration tests performed is important.

1. Reducing the Risk of Security Breaches

Most business owners labor under the delusion that their IT infrastructure is an impenetrable fortress. In reality, most business networks have a variety of weaknesses that can be exposed by hackers. Rather than ignoring the issues your infrastructure has, you need to address them head-on.

The last thing you need to do is wait until a cyber-attack happens to act, you need to be proactive. By hiring IT professionals to perform a penetration test, you can find and fix any security holes that may exist. The money you pay these professionals will pale in comparison to the cost of a data hack or network outage.

2. Finding and Properly Arranging Your Security Threats

In essence, a penetration test allows you to estimate the ability of your IT infrastructure to withstand or avoid a cyber-attack. Usually, everything from your applications and any user endpoints will be put through the paces during this testing process.

With the results from this testing, you can properly identify the vulnerabilities your IT infrastructure has. Once you can work with IT professionals to figure out how to properly fix the problems that have been discovered. Simply ignoring the threats found will generally lead to disastrous situations in the future.

3. Protecting Your Company Image

For most business owners, finding a way to protect their company image is essential. Often times, businesses will have websites and apps they use to connect with existing customers and market their services to a wider audience. If these tools are hacked or compromised in any way, it can affect your company’s image significantly.

If a consumer’s identity is hacked as a result of your website being compromised, you will probably lose a lot of business as a result. The best way to avoid these problems is by paying IT professionals to perform penetration tests. Having these tests performed on a regular basis will help ensure all of your tech tools are working properly and secure.

4. Keeping Your Team Productive

If you are like most business owners, one of your main concerns is keeping productivity levels high. Experiencing lengthy periods of downtime due to network outages will reduce the amount of money your company generates.

Are you tired of your network being down due to cyber-attacks? If so, fixing the vulnerabilities in your network is essential. The best way to pinpoint these issues is with adequate penetration testing.

When IT professionals discover network or IT infrastructure vulnerabilities during these tests, they will work with you to adequately resolve them. Having this type of professional will make strengthening your security much easier.

Before hiring professionals to perform these tests, you need to do your homework. Ideally, you will want to hire an IT professional with a vast amount of penetration testing experience.

Tags: essential, penetration, pentesting, reasons, small business, testing

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.