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Institutional Affiliation

Executive Summary

In this era of technology, criminal activities that target computers and computer network commonly referred to as cybercrime or cyberattacks are increasing. In fact, about 50 percent of small businesses have been hit by these kinds of felonious activities where some of them go out of business as a result of staid losses and low productivity. Unfortunately, most companies as well as individuals are getting accustomed to cyber-attacks believing that they are unescapable to control. While several start-up businesses lack expertise about hardware, software and other computer related technical functions, the most efficient and best way of dealing cyberattacks is the use penetration testing also known as pen testing. With penetration testing, ethical hackers are able to find weaknesses in the business networks repair and strengthen them before unethical hackers are able to hack the system. Studies reveal that businesses that conduct regular testing repair and strengthen their networks have realized only few cases of hacking and have significantly reduced  amount of loses incurred during attacks.

Introduction

Penetration testing also known as ethical hacking is the process of testing the system of the computer, networks, or web application in order to find any security vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to exploit. According to Al Shebli et al. (2018), pen testing is one of the most effective tools that businesses can use to determine if their networks are secure and if not they can strengthen them. There are several factors that pen testing is assessing that include weaknesses in software and hardware as well as the strength of previously implemented measures of security. Pan testing also ensures that individuals follow the controls and guidelines of specific system as well as assist in finding any bugs or vulnerabilities that are in a software which is installed in the system. According to Gorodissky et al. (2018), one of the significant pathways through which unethical hackers get into the business system is use of software hence they should be assessed before installation.  Most importantly, pen testing provides ideas and guidelines on how security experts should react when they are faced with cases of attack. It is in this context that pen testing is a multifaceted system that addresses several issues as far as cyber security is concerned.

Previous Approaches

In this technological era, most businesses find it very effective to have websites or operate through certain computer networks. This provides them with an easy way of not only to get potential customers but also to reach a huge number of customers. It is in this context that most individuals follow the YouTube guidelines of how to develop a website of which they succeed to create; however, the security measures remain a challenge which leaves their websites very vulnerable to unethical attacking. One of the most used security measure is HTTP and HTTPS. While these security measures have demonstrated some high levels of protection, much of the information is stored in form of plain texts, which gives unethical hackers easy ways to attack and take advantage of the whole system.  On the other hand, most businesses employ companies that are experienced to host web pages such as SquareSpace. According to Gorodissky et al. (2018), this is a good idea since such companies are left with responsibility of checking and fixing the vulnerabilities. However, when a breach occurs, customers still blame the owners the business of trusting an outside company with their critical information. Another traditional way that has been used to avoid cyberattacks is the use of antivirus software. While this is also an important way of notifying users about likelihood of hacking, a study conducted by Gorodissky et al. (2018), reveals that some hackers use sophisticated computer software that ant-virus software cannot detect. This has made several companies believe that they are protected yet unethical hackers dominate their websites and access useful customer as well the company’s information.  Lastly, most of the current methods such as the use of Grabber concentrates on hiding important details of the users or the businesses; however, hackers have developed composite software that can reveal or show such details. For example, according to Symantec’s study of hacking 2018, about 48 percent of malicious access are office file attachments, up from 5 percent in 2017. This reveals that as much as businesses try to hide important information, hackers are always a head hence use of an effective tools become mandatory in order to protect several business that are likely to collapse as a result of the vice of cyberattack.

New Findings

There are several new findings as far as cyber security is concerned when pen testing is put into use. One of the major finding and the greatest benefit of pen testing is that its tests for a variety of items in computer and computer networks. This is unlike to traditional security measures that are only focusing on specific items. Notably, pens testing asses the software hardware, human error, and even social engineering.  According to Gorodissky et al. (2018), if pen test is able to find a single vulnerability then there is no question whether it would found by unethical hackers since they have expertise and complex software to take advantage of any weak system. The main advantage in this case is that pen test has the control of the environment and provides full report on every aspect of the network of the business and its shortcomings.

Additionally, a pen test estimates capability of an organization to defend all its application, networks, users endpoints from external and internal attempts to dodge the security controls to attain unapproved or privileged to access the protected information or assets. According to Casola (2018), pens testing clearly confirms threats posed by certain security vulnerabilities or faulty procedures that allow security experts to organize for remediation actions.  As study by Pozzobon et al. (2018) adds that businesses and organizations that use pet testing efficiently handle the emergent security threats and prevent unauthorized entry or access to critical information and crucial systems.

Lastly, pen testing reveals that the hackers methods of operation. One of the major purpose of pen tester is simulate the attack on the system by behaving like a real hacker. Once the pen tester has identified the vulnerabilities it exploits them in similar manner that real hacker would. This assists to understand the parts of the system that has been affected and the ones that require improvements.

According to the study conducted by Pozzobon et al. (2018), businesses that use pen test on regular have saved a lot in terms of performance and losses that are incurred when there is an attack. It is important to note that one of the effects of hacking is inability to access the website by customers, something that slows productivity of an organization especially when the website is used for sales and marketing. Additionally, hackers obtain users details that they use to steal from the customers and the blame is left with the business or the organization to compensate such customer, a factor that forces businesses to incur serious loses.

Conclusion

In this era of technology where several business and conversations are done through the internet, several people as well as business are likely to fall prey of unethical hackers who are likely to obtain their crucial information. This can lead not only to reduced productivity but also loss of capital. While most business are becoming used to hacking thinking that there is little that can be done, penetrating testing is one of the best tools of preventing cyberattack. The tool has the ability to locate weak or vulnerable parts of the system that unethical hackers are likely to exploit. Additionally, unlike other traditional methods of preventing cyberattacks, pen testing provides guidelines on how to respond to real threats without causing more damage that give the attackers advantage. It is in this context in order to prevent regular cyberattacks that are likely to flop some businesses, companies and organizations should consider the use of penetration tests.