Why You Should Consider Doing Your Penetration Testing Now

Ahhh… October. The season when the leaves change colors, the weather starts to take a turn, and the spooky season is in full swing. But it’s not the ghouls and monsters that scare me. Instead, I fear the terrifying bad actors and the spooky things they are up to, which makes sense because it’s also Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

Now that my cheesy bit is out of the way, let’s talk about why you’re actually here: penetration testing (or pen tests)!

The Importance of Penetration Testing

It’s about that time of year when you should seriously consider scheduling that pesky yearly penetration test. Most organizations are required to have at least an annual test in either their internal or external networks and sometimes even against their web applications.

For organizations of all sizes, penetration testing is a critical element of your cybersecurity program, giving you an effective way to pinpoint vulnerabilities in your systems along with valuable insights to enhance your cybersecurity program. Benefits include:

• Vulnerability Identification: Pen tests help uncover weaknesses in your systems, applications, and networks that malicious actors could exploit.
• Risk Mitigation: By identifying vulnerabilities before attackers do, you can take proactive measures to mitigate potential risks, reducing the likelihood of security breaches.
• Security Enhancement: Penetration testing provides guidance on how to improve your security measures, allowing you to strengthen your overall security posture.
• Compliance Assurance: Pen tests are an important part of ensuring that your organization complies with industry-specific regulations and security standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS.
• Threat Simulation: Penetration tests simulate real-world attack scenarios, helping organizations better understand how their defenses would fare against actual threats.
• Cost Savings: Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities early can save you significant costs associated with data breaches, downtime, and reputation damage.
• Continuous Improvement: Regular penetration testing fosters a culture of ongoing security improvement, adapting to evolving threats and technologies.
• Peace of Mind: Knowing that your systems have been thoroughly tested and are secure provides peace of mind for your organization and its stakeholders.

Why You Should Schedule Your Penetration Testing Now

Through decades of security experience, we still see organizations of all shapes and sizes wait until the very last minute to try and get it taken care of, which causes a couple of problems:

1. First, all the other organizations that postponed their pen testing are trying to perform them at the same time, which causes a scheduling nightmare.
2. Triggering the second issues, finding a provider to help perform the assessment will be challenging and cost you a fortune.

Whether it’s an internal, external, or web app test, now is the time to schedule them. Not in a month, but now. Booking your pen test now for a future date guarantees your spot on the calendar, prevents stress, and saves you money.

At MicroAge, we work with multiple penetration and cybersecurity test providers. So, no matter what test you need, we can easily scope and schedule the best provider based on your specific needs, saving you endless phone calls and providing you with meaningful results.

So, this Cybersecurity Awareness Month, keep all of this in mind so you can keep all the spooky bad actors away by testing and strengthening your systems.

Let’s talk

Contact us today at (800) 544-8877 to find out more about our penetration testing and other services.