Organizations often have security tools and controls in place but may not know whether they would withstand a real-world attack. Firewalls, endpoint protection, multifactor authentication, policies, and employee training are all important components of a cybersecurity program. But an essential question remains: Would your controls hold up against the techniques a real attacker might use?
A penetration (pen) test can answer that question for you.
Pen testing is a proactive way to find weaknesses in your cybersecurity before a malicious actor does, preventing costly breaches and protecting your organization’s sensitive information.
What Is Penetration Testing?
Pen testing evaluates how an attacker could exploit vulnerabilities and where your defenses may need to be strengthened. A thorough penetration test will:
- Identify vulnerabilities that could allow unauthorized access to your systems or sensitive information
- Evaluate whether cybersecurity controls are operating effectively against real-world attack techniques
- Prioritize remediation based on the potential business impact of validated security weaknesses
How a Pen Test Works
Cybersecurity experts simulate a cyberattack on your system, network, or application to identify security weaknesses that malicious hackers could exploit.
RKL’s pen testing process involves the following:
If access controls prevent testing, authenticated testing will be performed.
- Host discovery
- Scan network hosts by IP addresses provided.
- Service enumeration
- Identify services, applications, and open ports on the target network.
- Vulnerability assessment
- Perform a systematic review of security weaknesses.
- Exploitation testing
- Perform non-invasive testing to determine areas of the network that could be exploited.
- Reports
- Vulnerabilities identified
- Provide management with reports identifying all vulnerabilities found and suggested recommendations for remediation.
- Executive-level draft
- Provide an executive-level draft report for management to comment on.
- Final report
- Vulnerabilities identified
Penetration Testing vs. Vulnerability Assessment
To have a pen test, you first need a vulnerability assessment performed on your organization’s system, network, or web application.
Vulnerability Assessment
A vulnerability assessment identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes potential security vulnerabilities in your system. The goal of a vulnerability assessment is to find weaknesses in your system before a malicious actor can exploit them. These assessments are non-invasive and don’t attempt to breach any of your systems.
Penetration Test
A pen test, on the other hand, is a real-world simulation. It is “ethical hacking,” in which a cybersecurity expert intentionally attempts to exploit your system, network, or web application as a malicious actor would. These tests validate whether weaknesses found in a vulnerability test are actually exploitable. They also show potential attack paths and business impact.
Why Both Are Valuable
The vulnerability assessment produces a prioritized list of potential vulnerabilities, which helps determine the scope and focus of the pen test. The pen test then provides evidence of which vulnerabilities are exploitable, the attack paths a bad actor could take, and the potential business impact. Together, these screenings help your organization prioritize remediation, strengthen security controls, and conduct a follow-up retest to confirm that the most critical issues have been addressed.
When Should You Consider Penetration Testing?
There are many factors to consider when deciding on the perfect timing for your organization to conduct a pen test.
- Before or after implementing major technology changes
- When you introduce new technology to your organization, performing a pen test will ensure that all cybersecurity measures are in place and that nothing was overlooked during implementation.
- Following infrastructure or network changes
- Updates can unintentionally introduce new vulnerabilities, weaken existing security protocols, or create unexpected attack paths.
- Periodically, as part of an ongoing cybersecurity program
- Technology, threats, and business operations continually change, and staying proactive rather than having to react to an attack sets your organization up for success.
- When sensitive data, critical systems, compliance expectations, customer demands, or cyber insurance requirements elevate risk.
- A pen test provides evidence of how effectively these assets and controls can withstand a real-world attack and identifies any exploitable weaknesses within them before an attack happens.
Does Your Organization Need a Penetration Test?
A penetration test should typically be performed for organizations or environments that:
- Have internet-facing systems, applications, VPNs, or portals
- Store or process sensitive client, financial, personal, or regulated data
- Are subject to regulatory, contractual, cyber insurance, or client security requirements
- Have had major system, network, or application changes
- Have elevated risk identified by IT/security leadership
- Have experienced a security incident or suspected compromise
RKL’s IS Assurance and Advisory cybersecurity team can help you understand why your organization needs a pen test and what you can expect after.
What Will You Receive After a Pen Test?
At the conclusion of the testing, reports will be provided that summarize:
- What was tested
- Key findings and risk ratings
- How weaknesses could be exploited
- Business impact
- Recommendations for remediation
- Supporting evidence or examples, as appropriate
These results can be used to prioritize remediation, strengthen security controls, communicate risks to leadership and stakeholders, support compliance efforts, and guide follow-up testing to confirm that identified issues have been resolved.
Why the Results Matter to Leadership and Technical Teams
Pen test results provide valuable insight that helps both leadership and technical teams make informed decisions and strengthen the organization’s overall security posture.
- Leadership: Provides the information needed to make risk-informed decisions, prioritize investments, and allocate time and resources to the organization’s most significant security concerns.
- IT and security teams: Delivers clear, actionable guidance to help teams understand, prioritize, and remediate identified vulnerabilities.
- Organization: Strengthens the overall security posture, reduces the likelihood and potential impact of disruption, and increases confidence that security controls are working as intended.
How RKL Approaches Penetration Testing
RKL takes a practical, risk-based approach to penetration testing, tailoring each engagement to the organization’s environment, risk profile, and objectives.
- Enterprise-wide perspective: We connect cybersecurity risks to business operations and priorities, helping organizations focus on the issues that matter most.
- Experienced professionals: Engagements are performed by experienced, credentialed IS Assurance and Advisory Services professionals using industry-standard testing methodologies.
- Clear, actionable reporting: Reports include risk ratings, supporting details, and practical next steps to help organizations prioritize remediation, strengthen controls, and improve their overall security posture.
Need Ongoing Cybersecurity Guidance?
A penetration test provides valuable insight into your organization’s security risks, but managing those risks is an ongoing process. RKL’s Fractional CISO services provide strategic cybersecurity guidance and serve as an extension of your team.
Our experienced advisors can help interpret penetration test results, prioritize remediation, strengthen internal controls, and align cybersecurity investments with your organization’s business objectives. Whether you have an in-house IT team that needs additional oversight or lacks dedicated information security resources, RKL can provide tailored support to help manage evolving cybersecurity risks.
Now is the perfect time to move from awareness to action. Contact RKL’s IS Assurance and Advisory Cybersecurity team to schedule your penetration test or learn how our Fractional CISO services can help your organization manage cybersecurity risks over time.
