There are millions of websites working on the internet. Many of the websites are working to run their business while many are using the internet to promote their thoughts in the form of blogs. Though people use this knowledge for their good and share it with others, at the same time your platform to promote the knowledge can be misused by hackers. Your website can be hacked in various ways and hackers can easily use your data traffic to promote their advertisements and products. This leads to defaming a website and lowering the reputation of the business.
One should pay proper attention to the security of their website and keep it safe from the prying eyes of hackers. Just the way hackers have multiple methods to hack a website, the same way one can protect their website by following different security methods. One such helpful and effective security method is Penetration Testing.
What is a Pen Test?
Penetration testing also known as Pen Test is a method that involves ethical hacking to check out the security strength of a website. The procedure needs to be done by a professional under professional guidance. It involves hacking the website ethically and looks out for vulnerabilities that can create a gateway for hackers to hack a website. The same procedure is done by hackers. If the website owner performs penetration testing and gets rid of vulnerabilities then hackers do not get a chance to exploit the website. Therefore, it is one of the important and vital ways to test the security of the website and remove vulnerabilities. The testing should be done from both, inside and outside the network for stronger results.
Penetration Testing Tool
A penetration testing tool is the one that helps to identify such vulnerabilities and exploit them immediately before they become a reason to tarnish your website. The penetration testing tools help to perform certain tasks to improve the efficiency of the testing which at times is not possible with manual analysis techniques alone. Common penetration testing tools are defined into 2 types, static analysis tool, and dynamic analysis tool. The role of these tools is to identify vulnerabilities in a website that breaches its security and ruins the business. The tool also has a check whether are there any backdoors to an application that can help a hacker to delve into the website successfully.
What is a Manual Penetration Test?
Manual Penetration Testing involves a software expert performing the test without using a penetration testing tool. This should only be done by an expert rather than trying one by self. The test is done for accessing high assurance applications. Manual testing is helpful to detect standard vulnerability classes, various designs, business logic, and compound flaw risk. These things can be identified only by manual testing. Therefore, it is one of the important ways to lower vulnerabilities.
Reasons for Penetration Testing
Penetration Testing is done to identify vulnerabilities of a website to keep it safe and secure from hackers. After performing the test the results should be clear enough to identify the reason for these vulnerabilities and also how they can be avoided in the future. The testing should be effective enough to go through the whole data of a website of a business or organization. The key network location, key files, key access to the website, and key network connections to use to transfer the data should all be covered and protected.
The testing should be capable enough to find vulnerabilities and misconfigurations and exploit them before they ruin a website’s structure and functioning. The testing should penetrate the network as well as key application levels. The main aim of penetration testing is to have a check whether unauthorized access is valid for key systems and files. If the access is granted then one should perform the re-test until it is clear.
Benefits of Penetration Testing
- Identifies and resolve system vulnerabilities
- Strengthens the trust of your regular visitors and clients
- Gain valuable insights into your digital system
- Reveal real risks
- Test your cyber-defense capability
Conclusion
The following write-up is an informative article about Penetration Testing. It includes information about what is penetration testing and its importance. It is a security measure that should be performed under professional guidance and by a professional. It helps to reveal vulnerabilities and clear them out. Secure your website now!