How to Choose the Right Security Testing Service Provider for Your Business
Cyber Crime

How to Choose the Right Security Testing Service Provider for Your Business?

Cybersecurity is one of the biggest concerns businesses have in this digital age. With the evolving nature of cyber threats and risks, robust security is required to protect your networks and digital assets. Security testing services aim to detect, analyze, and mitigate vulnerabilities that enable unauthorized access to the company’s data, applications, and IT infrastructure. Cyberattacks are expected to cost the world 8 trillion U.S. Dollars in 2023, exceeding 9.5 trillion in 2024 and 10.5 trillion U.S. Dollars in 2025. Due to this concern, a recent study was conducted in over 300 organizations of varied industries. Over 44% of those organizations are performing security testing at least once a week or once a month, just to be safe. From multinational corporations to startups, those businesses that operate online are vulnerable to cyber threats. So, what can you do to prevent cyber-attacks? The simple solution is to hire a security testing service provider. In this blog, we will discuss the importance of security testing services and how to choose the right provider for your business. What is Security Testing? Security testing is done on software and applications to discover vulnerabilities in the systems and ensure the company data and resources are protected from possible breaches. In this form of testing, real-world cyber-attacks are simulated on the systems to find weaknesses or loopholes before hackers do. It is carried out at regular intervals to keep the IT infrastructure secure. Some Security testing services called “penetration testing” or “ethical hacking”, are usually provided by third-party cybersecurity service providers to ensure accurate results. This is why, hiring the right security testing service provider is very much essential to protect businesses. Why Security Testing Services are Important for Businesses? Cyber dangers are always changing, and attackers are continually developing new ways to access networks. Furthermore, security testing is maintaining up to speed on the newest threat intelligence and using that information to evaluate the application’s defenses. This proactive strategy enables firms to keep ahead of possible attacks and apply critical security patches on time. Security testing is crucial to keep your security posture prepared against evolving cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Apart from finding vulnerabilities, the testing providers also share recommendations to fix them. 5 Reasons Security Testing is Beneficial for Businesses Security testing is an important part of the software development life cycle (SDLC) and is used to find security issues in the systems to prevent cyberattacks. In addition, here are a few reasons why you should conduct security testing services regularly: 1. Identify Vulnerabilities in the Systems Security testing services identify vulnerabilities in networks, devices, applications, servers, etc. before hackers exploit them. Some common vulnerabilities include weak passwords, misconfigured systems, code errors, unpatched software, etc. 2. Cost Reduction The phrase – prevention is better than cure, can be applied seamlessly in terms of cyberattacks. The cost of security testing services is much less than what you will be spending on recovery and remediation after a cyberattack. The average cost of a data breach in 2023 was 4.45 million USD, which is very high, depending on the type of company you are. 3. Achieving Regulatory Compliance As per certain regulatory laws, you need to meet certain standards in order to prove that your company is safe to do business with. Standards like HIPPS, GDPR, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, etc. require companies to do mandatory testing and audits of their systems. Failing to do so will result in hefty fines and penalties. Also, this testing should be done by a third-party certified security testing service provider, not the in-house technical team. 4. Maintain Customer Trust Keeping your company’s reputation intact and maintaining the trust of your customers/clients is very crucial for businesses and security testing plays a very essential role in it. Getting security testing done is not only required for compliance but also signifies that you have a strong security system in place. This ensures that your company is safe to work with, increasing your customer base and maintaining their trust. 5. Peace of Mind Getting security testing done on your applications, systems, and infrastructure helps in gaining peace of mind, knowing that they have tested for vulnerabilities. Finding and mitigating vulnerabilities will help protect sensitive data, finances, and overall business. Different Types of Security Testing Services Security experts and testers use a wide range of methods for security issues in software, network, or apps. These methods identify potential vulnerabilities, measure how likely these threats could be exploited, and evaluate the overall risks involved. Here are the common types of security testing services conducted by experts: 1. Vulnerability Scanning Vulnerability scanning is an automated security testing service that identifies vulnerabilities present in devices, applications, and networks. Typically, automated vulnerability scanning is done regularly and not just on special events like changes to the system. This is a proactive process to find and fix vulnerabilities. Vulnerability scanning can be further categorized based on the scope of the scan and how much they dig into the system. External Vulnerability Scan: It aims to detect vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit from outside a company’s network. Internal Vulnerability Scan: It aims to detect vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers who already have access to the internal network, like employees or contractors. Non-Intrusive Vulnerability Scan: Also called passive scanning, it involves observing a system’s security without actively engaging with it. This type of scan observes network traffic, analyses configurations, and examines publicly available information to find potential vulnerabilities. Intrusive Vulnerability Scan: On the other hand, intrusive vulnerability scanning involves actively engaging with the systems to discover vulnerabilities. Furthermore, this process may include sending specific data packets, trying to exploit vulnerabilities, and engaging with applications to simulate scenarios of real-world cyber-attacks. 2. Risk Assessment Risk assessment is a method to identify and prioritize the organization’s or a project’s potential risks. It involves identifying threats that might harm the project. Furthermore, with risk assessment operations like threat modeling, you can determine the capabilities of a potential threat in exploiting weaknesses present