Mitigating IT Security Risks with Penetration Tests

By TraceSecurity
July 2022

Penetration testing is much more than a necessary process to satisfy compliance obligations: it is a critical first step in the information and network security lifecycle and an important component of a full IT Security Compliance program. The purpose of a penetration test is to emulate real-world scenarios a hacker may use to determine (1) the feasibility of an attack, (2) where vulnerabilities may exist, and (3) the impact a successful exploit would create to the organization. Penetration testing can offer an invaluable means to establish a baseline assessment of an organization’s security posture as it appears from both inside and outside the network boundaries.

In this paper, we will explore the following:

1. What is a penetration test?
2. Where does a penetration test fall short?
3. Reasons to perform a penetration test
4. Penetration tests vs. vulnerability assessments
5. Who should perform your penetration tests?