By now you know that penetration tests are vital to understanding and improving your company’s cybersecurity efforts. Internal penetration testing takes it a step further. But to truly know why an internal penetration test is important to your business, you must first understand what an internal pen test is and how it differs from traditional or external pen testing.

Internal Penetration Testing Vs. External Penetration Testing

For most businesses, when a penetration test is commissioned, it will start with an external pen test. The team conducting the test will “attack” your network externally, trying to break in and exploit vulnerabilities of your outward cybersecurity. It will help you determine how an outside actor or hacker can breach your security and gain access to your systems.

Internal penetration testing takes that a step further by determining exactly what the breach exposes and what information the bad actor will be able to access once that external breach occurs. Additionally, it can also simulate what an inside attacker, a person who has some type of access to your network/systems already, can accomplish from their starting point in the internal network. It is an important next layer of protection if you are concerned about an inside attack or have run an external pen test and want to know exactly what additional risks you face once that outside breach happens.

Why Internal Penetration Testing Is Necessary.

Internal attacks are often more damaging to companies, because they have a head start – they begin already inside the network. Plus, if a breach is conducted by a disgruntled employee or an insider, they often know where to look for the most damaging files and are more efficient in their attack methodology, leading to a quicker and larger data breach.

By conducting internal penetration, your organization can determine vulnerabilities or weaknesses within computer systems, access points, WiFi networks, firewalls, local servers, passwords and/or other employee-focused access areas. You will also be able to figure out exactly how damaging breaching these internal components can be to your organization and how to shore them up or improve their efficacy as it relates to cybersecurity.

Are You Ready to Conduct Internal Penetration Testing?

Determining all of your cybersecurity vulnerabilities and how breaching them could impact your organization is important. Therefore, you should consider conducting an external pen test followed by an internal penetration test because it could result in long-term benefits and savings to your company.

SubRosa would be happy to talk you through your options and what you can do to protect your network and improve your cybersecurity. For more information, visit our site.