by Jack Kelly

Cyber-attacks in the form of hacking or malicious viruses are becoming common these days. Such attacks may cause damage to the IT and network services of your firm leading to business losses. This can be checked by carrying out systematic penetration testing or simply ‘pen test’. A pen test is like hacking in a good sense which is known as ethical or White Hat hacking. The pen testers attack the business in the same way as an unauthorized hacker would do. It will give you an assessment of the security vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure and check whether the cyber controls are in place or not. It covers all aspects of the computer and network applications including web applications and wireless networks. Certified IT security professionals perform these tasks, who have the ability to think out of the box.

Pen tests are conducted in two ways namely white box testing and black box testing. In white box testing, hackers have all the information beforehand like network diagrams, source code, IP addresses and much more. By using this information, they begin testing immediately. Testers have no information of the system in black box testing. They work like criminal hackers and perform the tests. This is the best way to do pen testing as it works in the same way as unethical hackers.

It is important to know that performing pen tests have disadvantages as well. It can disrupt your business operations because it works like a hacker attacking your IT system. So, you should be prepared for all the risks that are involved with it. It may slow your firm’s network and also has the potential to corrupt it. There are chances that the cyber security information of your firm may be exposed and compromised under these tests. Hence, it is better to choose an authorized and certified agency to carry out the pen testing on your firm.

As the cyber-criminals are continuously working towards attacking your information system, it is the high time that you perform a penetration test regularly. You can get assistance from the internet and look for information security service provider companies which have all the knowledge and expertise to carry out network pen testing and protect you from harmful intent of the hackers. There are many companies with industry certifications which can provide your business the security it needs. So, do not compromise on the security of your information and choose the best one to do the job for you!

Posted at http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/neutralize-cyber-crimes-using-network-pen-testing-7460107.html

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