With cyber crime on the rise, implementing secure security solutions is vital for any business. But regardless of the amount of investment, the true measure of your security only comes when you’re pitted against a determined hacker.
So, it makes sense to put your defences to the test against the people who really know how and where to hit you – the hackers themselves. Penetration testing services are the safe way to test your security measures to ensure they are robust and free from weak points.
Pen testing offers several benefits, even if you think your security is up to scratch. Following the test, you’ll have a greater understanding of any weaknesses in your defences, with advice on how to strengthen them. Penetration testing services also support compliance for many businesses, including ISO, PCI DSS, and SOC 2.
At Nasstar, we can deploy ethical hackers to probe your infrastructure, applications, people, and processes, to spot weaknesses and determine where breaches may occur. Our pen testing solutions can also evaluate the likelihood and potential impact of a breach.
Don’t leave security to chance and test your defences in a safe and controlled ethical hacking environment.
Key features
- Onboarding and planning
Through scoping of the testing process to meet precise requirements - Web and mobile app testing
All web servers evaluated to OWASP guidelines and standards - Social engineering
Targeted phishing emails to ensure robust security within your workforce - External infrastructure testing
Testing of all internet-connected networks for weaknesses - Internal infrastructure testing
Assuming the role of internal users to test whether data can be removed - Vulnerability assessment
Scanning and monitoring of all connected devices to highlight weak points
Justin Barker
Employee Experience Practice Lead at Nasstar
“With cyber criminals consistently upping their game, we’re unfortunately seeing more organisations become vulnerable to cyber attacks. But threats can also come from within your business too, especially without robust security measures and staff training. Regular penetration testing services are vital for keeping businesses safe from internal and external cyber risks, and we can help you toughen up your defences.”
Related Services/Solutions
Pen testing services are just one element of a strong cyber security posture, but they are a crucial one. At Nasstar, we offer several other cyber security solutions and services that complement penetration testing and ensure your defences are resilient enough to withstand potential attacks.
Cyber security professional services
Clear strategic thinking for tangible security improvements
Learn moreOur Expertise
Deploying cyber security services like pen testing is not a new concept to us at Nasstar, and we have a vast amount of experience in implementing solutions that meet the security needs of our customers.
Our penetration testers bring years of expertise in creating tailored testing programmes for organisations of all shapes and sizes. We will provide detailed reports and suggestions about how to plug the gaps in your security defences, and we’ll re-test you once you’re done to see if you’re prepared to withstand the real thing.
The pen testing process begins with an onboarding and planning session to ensure we understand your precise requirements and have the necessary administration rights to carry out the tests. We can also help you establish whether you want to keep the process under wraps, or let your workforce know about the simulation.
Once we have all the details ironed out, we can get into the nitty gritty and start penetrating your networks and systems to try and gain access, just as a hacker would. Following all the tests, we will give you a detailed report showing where your business is strong and where the weaknesses are, with recommendations for patching these up.
Why Choose Nasstar?
Our cyber security team has several years experience in the industry, working with a large range of clients on their security needs. We’ve helped to deploy intricate and tailored solutions, as well as out-the-box services that add an extra layer of protection to the security posture. And we can help you too.
We can carry out our pen testing services as a standalone service or implement it alongside a wider cyber security project. Our teams will work closely with you to understand your exact requirements and make suggestions on the solutions that would work best for your business goals.
FAQs
Pen testing, short for penetration testing, is where ethical hackers seek to find and exploit vulnerabilities in a computer system in a controlled environment. This service aims to identify weak points in a business’ security defences which could be exploited by malicious hackers.
What types of vulnerabilities can penetration testing services identify? Penetration testing services can identify different types of vulnerabilities through a series of test attempts. These include:
- Potential entry points for hackers
- Areas of industry non-compliance
- The organisation’s response capabilities
- The ability to access sensitive data
- Effectiveness of access controls
- Weak spots in specific business areas
Penetration testing is typically split into three different types: black-box assessment, white-box assessment, and gray-box assessment. Each type has a different objective and is differentiated by the information provided to the tester before and during the assessment.
Black box penetration testing is where the tester is given only the bare minimum information, such as the company name. These tests are used for organisation’s that already have processes for vulnerability identification and remediation.
White box penetration testing involves giving the tester lots of information, such as internal documents, configuration plans etc. This type of testing means the tester can spend more time focused on exploiting issues instead of understanding the organisation and performing host enumeration and vulnerability scanning.
Gray box penetration testing sits between black and white, with the tester provided a moderate amount of information. In these tests, they will know which hosts or networks to target, giving them a good idea of what a targeted attack could look like.
Both pen testing services and automated security scans can test systems for vulnerabilities and are both important elements in a security framework. However, they do differ.
Penetration testing has a more offensive nature, simulating an attack to exploit weaknesses, while vulnerability scanning can also incorporate a defensive strategy and act as an early warning system by identifying potential vulnerabilities.
Time is also a factor, with penetration being more time-consuming and resource intensive compared to automated security scanning. Vulnerability scans can be quick to complete and can typically be performed more often than penetration tests.
When choosing a pen testing provider, there are several factors to consider. You’ll first need to think about your business objectives and how this could feed into them, your budget, and testing requirements
Secondly, it’s important to consider vendors with expertise in penetration testing and seek out those who have worked with other customers in your industry to ensure they have knowledge on industry-specific challenges and compliance requirements.
Penetration testing should be a regular undertaking in most businesses. Depending on the size of your organisation, your business activities, budget, and security measures, we recommend carrying out pen testing once per year. It’s also important to consider carrying out a penetration test following any significant changes to your business network or cyber security solutions.
During a pen test, a penetration tester will simulate real-world cyber attacks using a variety of methods such as vulnerability assessments, social engineering, and physical pen tests. Once vulnerabilities have been uncovered, pen testers will try to exploit them by escalating privileges, stealing data, and intercepting traffic to understand the damage they can cause.
Any industry can be subject to a cyber attack, but it can be more beneficial for those industries that hackers target more often. Highly regulated industries like healthcare, financial services, banking, insurance, legal, and public sector are typically high value targets for cyber attackers and so regular pen testing could be more advantageous in these sectors.
Depending on the specific requirements agreed during the onboarding and planning session, penetration testing times can vary. Most commonly, the actual tests themselves can take from one to two weeks. It’s important to remember that this time can vary depending on several factors, including the size of the organisation, scope of work, and other external factors outside the control of the pen tester.
Penetration testing services can often be tailored to meet the specific needs of a business, as agreed during the onboarding and planning session. At Nasstar, we can work with you to understand your requirements and create a bespoke pen testing plan that focuses on the areas you’re most interested in testing and learning more about.
