Every day when you scroll through the latest headlines in the morning newspaper, you will probably find a high-profile cybercrime story. These stories are mainly about malware, phishing scams, website spoofing, IoT Hacking, internet fraud, online intellectual property infringements, identity theft, cyber extortion, social network fraud, and online impersonation.
Moreover, cybercrimes are growing exponentially, creating threats for companies across the world. According to the computer security company McAfee, increasing cybercrime incidents now cost the world economy more than USD 1 trillion. It means the total cost of cyber attacks averages over 1 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Thus, organizations spend a handsome amount on cybersecurity to mitigate risks and prevent crimes. The Cybersecurity Ventures report shows that the global spending on cyber security products and services will exceed USD 1.75 trillion over the next four years. Therefore, companies are focusing on penetration testing to evaluate the security of an IT infrastructure in order to avoid the risk of theft and damage. If you aspire to launch a career in the cybersecurity realm, a diploma in cyber security could be a secret to your success.
After learning about penetration testing in cybersecurity, you probably wonder about its functionality, right? So, this blog walks you through the meaning, functions, and importance of penetration testing in cybersecurity.
An insight into penetration testing
Cybercrimes are surging incredibly fast, and criminals may infect systems with viruses to damage them and steal data. As hackers discover innovative methods and tools to perform attacks, organizations need to think one step ahead of cybercriminals. Here, the penetration test comes into play.
A penetration test is one of the types of ethical hacking. It is also well-known as pen testing or security pen-testing. Penetration test plays a significant role in protecting businesses against crime. The primary function of penetration testing is to evaluate the security of an IT infrastructure by checking test servers, networks, user security, mobile devices, web applications, and other potential points to pierce the armor of cyber defenses developed by an organization.
Ethical hackers are also known as white hat hackers. They perform authorized tests on computers and other devices to expose vulnerabilities, configuration errors, or weaknesses in their security prone to attacks. Usually, there are several types of penetration tests, including network services, applications, client-side, wireless, social engineering, and physical.
Demand for penetration tester
Penetration testers or pen testers are in huge demand to perform tests on apps, network devices, and cloud infrastructures. Organizations also need them to conduct research and experiment with several forms of attacks. Furthermore, pen testers also review code for security vulnerabilities and develop simulated social engineering attacks methodologies.
Above all, the job of pen testers is financially rewarding too. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that the employment for information security professionals, including pen testers, is projected to grow by 33 percent over the next ten years. So, enroll in the cybersecurity diploma now for a rewarding future ahead!
