Malicious actors are constantly adapting their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to quickly adapt to political, technological, and regulatory changes. Some emerging threats that organizations of all sizes need to be aware of include:
- Increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning: Malicious actors are increasingly leveraging AI and machine learning to automate attacks, allowing them to scale operations faster than ever before.
- Leveraging cloud-based technology: Cloud-based services are increasingly targeted by malicious actors due to the lack of visibility and control over these platforms.
- Increased use of ransomware: Ransomware is becoming a more common attack method, allowing malicious actors to quickly monetize their operations. Ransomware attacks increased by 41% in 2022, but it took 49 days longer than average to identify and remediate a breach, according to CompTIA.
- phishing attack It also reported a 48% increase in the first half of 2022, with 11,395 incidents costing businesses $12.3 million.
- Rise of IoT attacks: IoT attacks are expected to double by 2025 due to the rapid adoption of connected devices.
- business chaos: The nature of cyber threats is changing, according to a World Economic Forum report. Respondents now believe attackers are likely to focus on business disruption and reputational damage.
Organizations of all sizes must find new ways to defend their networks against these new threats.
Penetration testing and application security
Penetration testing is one of the most effective ways to discover and address vulnerabilities within an organization’s IT infrastructure. By simulating real-world attacks, security teams can identify weaknesses in their defenses before they can be exploited by malicious actors.
Preventing SQL Injection with Penetration Testing
SQL injection attacks are one of the most common web application security threats. Injection attacks, including SQL injection, were the third most serious web application security risk in 2021, according to the Open Web Application Security Project. The application they tested resulted in 274,000 injections.
SQL injection exploits an application’s lack of input validation to allow attackers to inject malicious code into database queries.
The best way to prevent SQL injection is regular penetration testing of your web application. Penetration testers can identify vulnerable code, detect malicious payloads, and suggest remedial actions such as input validation to reduce the risk of attacks. Additionally, penetration testing can be used to measure the effectiveness of existing security measures and identify gaps in coverage.
Penetration Testing Vulnerability Detection
In 77% of cases, the compromise vector was a poorly protected web application. 86% of firms had at least one such vector.
Penetration testing is an important part of your security strategy as it helps detect vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Penetration testers use a variety of tools and techniques to identify potential risks in web applications, such as SQL injection and other attack vectors. By analyzing code and network traffic, you can discover weaknesses in your security infrastructure that malicious attackers can exploit.
Drawbacks of Traditional Penetration Testing Methods
Penetration testing is becoming increasingly important as attackers become more sophisticated and cybercrime encompasses a variety of attack vectors. However, 32% of organizations only conduct penetration tests once or twice a year. This is because traditional penetration testing methods have shortcomings that make them difficult to perform consistently for several reasons.
First, penetration testing is time consuming and expensive, limiting the number of tests an organization can perform on a regular basis. This means that pentesters may only find vulnerabilities that are present in the system at the time of testing. New threats may emerge after testing. Additionally, the lack of retesting makes it difficult to validate how effective remediation efforts are.
Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS)
Penetration testing solutions come in many forms, from automated scanning tools to red team exercises that simulate advanced threats. PTaaS (Penetration Testing as a Service) combines traditional penetration testing with modern cloud-based technologies to provide continuous protection against evolving threats and vulnerabilities.
The first step in testing your web application is to run an automated scan. This scan looks for common flaws such as input validation, SQL injection, and cross-site scripting.
After the automated scan is complete, you can perform a manual review of your code to identify any remaining vulnerabilities. Automated scanning tools help identify known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. Red team exercises, on the other hand, provide a more focused assessment of your security posture.
Benefits of PTaaS:
Traditional penetration testing methods are becoming less effective in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks. Organizations should look for new ways to supplement existing security measures with advanced solutions such as continuous monitoring, automated attack simulation, and threat intelligence.
PTaaS (Penetration Testing as a Service) is a revolutionary new way to help maintain cyber hygiene, taking a proactive approach to preventing cyberattacks.
- Continuous protection: Traditional penetration testing can only assess the security of a system at a point in time. PTaaS helps keep your organization protected by continuously scanning for new vulnerabilities and threats.
- Cost and time savings: Managed services free up internal resources and access expert expertise, enabling organizations to respond quickly and effectively to discovered vulnerabilities.
- Improve your security posture: With a PTaaS solution, organizations can ensure their security posture is constantly evaluated and updated by a team of experts. This reduces the risk of successful attacks and enables quick remediation of discovered vulnerabilities.
Outpost 24 Application Penetration Testing is a managed service that provides comprehensive security and visibility across your organization’s applications. We combine advanced automation techniques with continuous monitoring to ensure your organization stays ahead of the latest cyberthreats.
