Penetration testing (or pen testing) is the practice of attacking your own IT systems, just as an attacker would, in order to uncover active security gaps on your network. Penetration testing is conducted in a way that allows you to safely simulate these attacks, so you can discover your organization’s actual exposures – whether within technologies, people, or processes – without taking down your network.
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Learn MoreA pen testing tool or program is a must-have in any security program, providing you with a virtual map of your exposures and where to direct your resources. Penetration testing tools allow for organizations to actually go in and test for vulnerabilities that may be impacting their security systems. These tools simulate a real-world attack enviornment, and are beneficial to ensuring your programs are as up-to-date as possible.
Understanding government compliance is the simple part; it is required for PCI compliance and HIPAA compliance. That being said, without a deep understanding of programming languages and exploit writing, it can be difficult to understand and simulate a real attack efficiently. In order to get in the attacker mindset, you have to use a penetration testing tool that automates the tactics that normally take days or weeks, so you can simulate them in the precious few hours and minutes you have.
There is no “one-size-fits-all” model of when a penetration test should be performed by a company. The frequency of how often an organization should run these tests is determined by a number of components including, but not limited to, company size, revenue, assets, and various other identifying factors. Larger companies with more online assets will most-likely need to test their systems to protect against malicious attackers, so additional recurring penetration tests would be necessary for optimal protection. Industry regulations can also factor into penetration testing requirements to ensure sensitive company and customer data is secure.
Regardless of company size and statistics, the digital landscape is constantly changing and attackers will try to take advantage of new avenues whenever possible. Whenever software updates are rolled out, they need to be meticulously tested and patched to guarantee that there are no vulnerabilities that could negatively impact the company.
With Metasploit Pro, you can utilize the most widely used penetration testing software in the world without having to learn coding or command line. For power framework users and general security professionals, Metasploit Pro shaves days off of your penetration test by automating exploitation, evidence collection, and reporting. Metasploit Pro also makes it easy to conduct client side attacks, with advanced bruteforcing techniques and phishing attacks. Combined with the ability to stealthily conceal your exploits and pivot around a network, Metasploit Pro makes it easy to simulate a real attack on your or your customer’s network, and continuously assess your defenses.
Metasploit Framework - our free-to-use software platform - enables businesses and individuals to get a glimpse of the potential carried by the Metasploit Project as a whole. The product is open-source and accepts contributions from community members which allows for the latest penetration testing tools to be utilized. This, paired with, our consistent developer support, has cemented Metasploit Framework the de-facto standard for penetration testers of all experience levels.
You can engage Rapid7’s penetration testing services to assess your network, application, wireless, and social engineering security. Our team of industry-renowned experts use a deep knowledge of the attacker mindset to fully demonstrate the security level of your organization's key systems and infrastructure.