The Evolution of Penetration Testing and Why It’s More Effective Now Than Ever Before

Penetration testing has really taken off in the business world, but did you know it’s actually been around since the 1980’s? Granted, the way it works now has changed dramatically since the beginning of the internet, but the basis of penetration testing has remained the same over the years.

Here, we’ll look at the evolution of penetration testing and why it’s proving to be one of the most effective security measures for modern businesses.

How has penetration testing evolved?

Penetration testing began way back in the 1980’s to 1990’s and it was initially used by the government. They carried out fairly extensive penetration tests during this time, and it wasn’t too long before commercial businesses followed suit.

It has always been used for the same purpose – to expose potential threats before they occur on shared networks. In the past, there wasn’t as many security risks as there are now, so initial tests were fairly basic. However, as the internet has evolved, it’s opened up a whole range of potential hazards so penetration testing has also had to evolve to meet the increasing threats.

Hackers continue to become smarter and find ways around the latest security measures. With so many potential threats to networking systems these days, it’s difficult for businesses to know where a problem might occur. That’s where penetration testing proves invaluable.

Why penetration testing is more effective now than ever before

While advancements in technology have increased the risks of online threats to businesses, it’s also enabled experts such as Nettitude Ltd, to create more complex penetration testing systems.

These days, penetration tests don’t just identify different weaknesses in a system, they expose them. It’s more of a form of “ethical hacking”, which literally hacks into your system, or at least attempts to. So, it doesn’t just show you what threats your system is currently facing, but it also highlights what would happen if those threats were exploited.

These tests don’t cause any harm to your system, they simply show you whether or not it can be hacked into and the consequences of that.

Overall, the fact that penetration tests have become much more complex has really helped businesses to gain a much better picture into the security of their systems and networks. They have become one of the most vital security measures modern businesses can use to prevent damage which could be caused by hackers.