Latest News

You're the owner of a thriving small business that has been steadily growing its online presence. You’ve put some work into your website, and it’s becoming a valuable source of new customer inquiries. You’ve also set up a booking form where potential clients get in touch and provide you some details so that you can quote jobs for them in a quick, efficient manner. 

Customers are responding and entrusting you with their personal information. Everything seems to be going smoothly until one day, a hacker finds a weakness in your digital defences. It’s the digital equivalent to a concealed trapdoor: you didn’t know it existed, let alone how to defend it. Suddenly, your customers' data is compromised, your reputation is tarnished, and your business is left scrambling to recover.

This scenario, or one very similar to it, has been a reality that many Australian businesses have recently faced. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Annual Cyber Threat Report, released in June 2022, a cybercrime is reported every 7 minutes on average. Alongside the high-profile breaches of ASX200 companies, there are dozens of lower-profile but just as disruptive attacks on businesses and livelihoods. 

As cyber threats continue to evolve and grow more sophisticated, it's imperative for small and medium-sized businesses to take proactive measures to protect their digital assets and safeguard their customers' trust.

This blog will detail some of the measures that any business can, and should, take to respond to this reality.

What is Vulnerability Scanning?

Vulnerability scanning is a proactive approach to identifying security weaknesses in your business's digital infrastructure. To continue the analogy from the introduction, it involves searching for that hidden trapdoor that left you vulnerable, with the assistance of a qualified builder and architect who know what they’re looking for.

In the cyber security realm, it involves using specialised software tools to scan and analyse your systems, networks, and applications for potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by cyber criminals. The scanning process aims to uncover things like security holes and outdated software versions. These can represent a point of weakness that could leave your business exposed.

One of the key benefits of vulnerability scanning is its ability to classify the identified security holes based on their severity and potential impact. This classification helps rank the vulnerabilities that require immediate attention. This is a practical approach. Businesses can allocate their resources effectively to address the most significant risks first, reducing the likelihood of successful cyberattacks. A skilled cyber security expert can rank the vulnerabilities effectively, and explain the risk attached to each one, leaving you to make a business decision that fits with your other priorities. 

It's worth noting that there are different types of vulnerability scanners available, each designed to target specific areas of your digital infrastructure. These include: 

• network-based scanners, 
• host-based scanners, 
• web application scanners,
• database scanners, and,
• wireless scanners 
  

Penetration Testing

Penetration testing is also sometimes known as ‘ethical hacking’. It’s akin to employing a reformed criminal and thief to plan a robbery, but where the employer is the owner of the location that is being ‘robbed’. The ‘ethical’ thief plans and then simulates a ‘real world’ robbery to test the strength of the defences of the business and its response times.

It’s a systematic and controlled approach to assessing the security of a business's digital infrastructure. It differs from vulnerability scanning. Vulnerability scanning focuses on identifying vulnerabilities, penetration testing takes it a step further by simulating real-world attacks to exploit those vulnerabilities and assess the effectiveness of existing security measures. The ultimate goal of penetration testing, from a business perspective, is to identify and address weaknesses before malicious actors can exploit them.

There are different types of penetration testing, including black-box, white-box, and, grey-box testing. 

The Benefits of Regular Vulnerability Scanning and Penetration Testing

The two approaches above work in tandem with one another. They work in harmony to provide a comprehensive assessment of the cyber security protection within your business. Vulnerability scanning helps identify potential weaknesses, misconfigurations, and outdated software versions, while penetration testing validates and verifies these vulnerabilities through real-world simulations.

This can help your business be proactive, rather than reactive after a threat has already manifested itself. There are practical advantages to this. Addressing vulnerabilities before they are exploited significantly lowers the risk of data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage. 

In addition, regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing aid in maintaining compliance with industry standards and regulations that are required to do business in different jurisdictions. These include frameworks such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS. 

Key Takeaway

Ultimately, the combination of vulnerability scanning and penetration testing provides a comprehensive security assessment that helps businesses stay resilient in the face of evolving cyber threats. 

A skilled and experienced cyber security team can perform these assessments, and then explain the results to you in a practical, actionable way, including ranking the potential weaknesses and providing advice, but leaving the ultimate decision about next steps entirely to you. CyberUnlocked has years of industry experience and has worked with dozens of businesses to do this kind of prevention work. If you feel as though we may be able to help with your needs, we look forward to speaking with you.