Businesses face threats from all angles these days.
Be it online or in-store, the potential to suffer at the hands of criminals has never been higher. Indeed, cargo theft alone accounts for up to $30 billion of losses every year in the US.
As you can imagine, it’s never been more important for businesses to take their security systems seriously. Thankfully, the right combination of protective measures and tools can make a mighty difference. Are you engaging in a bid to bolster your business’ defenses?
Well, physical penetration testing is a prime example of something that can avert future trouble.
Unfortunately, most people have never heard of it, let alone used it in their protective preparations! We want to correct that predicament and outline why pen testing is so essential to the robustness of any security system.
Sound good? Read on to learn everything you need to know about physical pen-testing.
What Is Physical Pen Testing?
Physical pen testing is analogous to seeing the doctor for an annual check-up.
There might be nothing obviously wrong! You’ve got no physical symptoms, worries, or concerns. But you understand that something might be happening under the surface.
Getting a professional to check you over/run some tests is the only way to ensure that you’re in good health.
The exact same process takes place when a business engages in physical penetration testing. This time, though, it’s the quality of their physical security systems that are under the microscope.
You ask professionals to try and infiltrate your business in order to expose any hidden weaknesses.
It’s about admitting that you don’t know what you don’t know. You hold your hands up, question the integrity of your security, and see where you’re currently failing.
The patient identifies an illness before it gets too severe. You discover the holes in your security before they get exploited.
What Does Penetration Testing Look Like In Practice?
There are endless ways that a security system could be flawed. Penetration testing is about stepping into the mindset of a skilled intruder and taking the same steps they might.
However, this is more than just a thought-experiment or security audit. You have people on the ground, actively engaging in attempted breaches of your systems.
They might try to:
- Pick your locks,
- Photograph sensitive information on your computers,
- Enter your server rooms,
- Bribe your security guards,
- Find sensitive information in your trash,
- Get into restricted areas (known as tailgating), and
- Spy on employees to steal their computer login details, among others!
What Are the Benefits of Physical Pen Testing?
Intrusion testing of this nature offers a wide array of benefits. Here are the main ways you stand to gain:
Identify Vulnerabilities
As we’ve seen, penetration testing reveals the flaws in your security.
This is, arguably, the primary benefit involved. After all, you might be operating under the assumption that everything is fine! You might believe that your systems are impenetrable and the risk of infiltration is minimal.
Like a knight identifying a chink in his armor, pen-testing may identify hitherto unforeseen weaknesses. Had they been exploited in a real-world scenario, the consequences could have been catastrophic. You can then put the necessary measures in place to stop that happening.
Realize the Potential for Damage
This newfound understanding of your security issues can also reveal the potential damage that successful attacks could cause.
As we said, you might have had no idea about a particular threat. As such, you’d have been totally ignorant of the possible ramifications of an attack at the same time.
Ignorance might be bliss, but it’s also a recipe for disaster in terms of business security! Thanks to pen testing, you’ll gain new insight into the seriousness of would-be attacks. You see how operations would be impacted and be able to assess the scale of the problem.
See the Aptitude of Current Systems
Pen testing isn’t just about exposing weaknesses.
It’s also about testing the security measures that you currently have in place. You might have invested thousands of dollars in particular physical and digital security systems. However, until they’re put to the test, you have no idea if they’re up to the job.
The worst thing that could happen is that you find out too late that something doesn’t work!
By running a pen test you can analyze how equipment performs and people/systems respond. You might learn that everything is set up perfectly to detect and handle issues. That information is just as valuable.
Generate Data to Justify New Security Investment
You might have wanted to bolster security for a while already.
However, it can be hard to justify such expenditure in the absence of explicit reasons to do so. You might also feel unsure about the specific areas that need better security. Physical penetration testing comes in handy here as well.
It shines a spotlight on any security flaws! You come away with no doubt about the need to invest in new measures. You can take that data to investors, partners, and managers to prove what needs to happen.
Time to Experiment with Physical Penetration Testing
Businesses face all manner of security threats these days.
Everything from hacks and malware to burglars and intruders presents significant dangers to both employees and operations. Needless to say, it’s essential that business owners take proactive steps to bolster their levels of security.
As we’ve seen, physical penetration testing is one of the best ways to do it in additional to cybersecurity penetration testing. Hopefully, the information in this post has answered your questions about the process and demonstrated its value.
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