What is the difference between security assessment and penetration testing

Vulnerability scans can be instigated manually or run on a scheduled basis, and will complete in as little as several minutes to as long as several hours. After a vulnerability scan completes, a detailed report is created. Typically, these scans generate an extensive list of vulnerabilities found and references for further research on the vulnerability.

Some even offer directions on how to fix the problem. The report identifies potential weaknesses, but sometimes includes false positives. Sifting through reported vulnerabilities and making sure they are real and not false positives can be a chore but one that must be done.

A penetration test simulates a hacker attempting to get into a business system through hands-on research and the exploitation of vulnerabilities. Actual analysts, often called ethical hackers, search for vulnerabilities and then try to prove that they can be exploited. Using methods like password cracking, buffer overflow, and SQL injection, they attempt to compromise and extract data from a network in a non damaging way.

Penetration tests are an extremely detailed and effective approach to finding and remediating vulnerabilities in software applications and networks. A good way to illustrate the benefits of a penetration test would be to use an analogy from the medical world. When something is wrong inside your body you can go get an X-ray to help diagnose your problem.

The image produced by a simple X-ray machine can detect an obvious break in bone structure but is fuzzy and not good for seeing soft tissue damage. When a vulnerability is exploited, it can result in giving unauthorized access, escalation of privileges or denial-of-service to the asset. A Vulnerability Assessment deliverable provides potential risk associated with all vulnerabilities found with possible remediation steps. There are many tools that can be used to scan for vulnerabilities based on system type, operating system, ports open for communication and other means.

Vulnerability Assessments are a valuable way to assess a network for potential security weakness to identify where to invest for future security. A Penetration Test is attempting to attack vulnerabilities in a similar method of a real malicious attacker. Typically, penetration services are requested when a system or network has exhausted investments in security and seeking to verify if all avenues of security have been covered.

The key difference between a Penetration Test and Vulnerability Assessment is a penetration test will act upon vulnerabilities found and verify if they are legit reducing the list of confirmed risk associated with a target. Instead of a generalized penetration test, Secureworks conducts customized attacks relevant to you, your industry, and your company.

Here are ways we tailor a penetration test to you:. We tailor each of our pentest offerings to achieve your goals and expectations. Still have more questions on where to get started or need assistance on conducting an evaluation of your organization's security posture?

Contact an Information Security Consultant at Secureworks to find your organizations information security weaknesses and the valuable assets an advanced threat can obtain. Summary Penetration tests simulate a threat actor.

Vulnerability assessments provide a laundry list of automated findings. Vulnerability assessments are a great start for companies who have just started their security journey and penetration tests a great way to test your existing infrastructure and security solutions. What is a Vulnerability Assessment? Vulnerability Assessments Follow These General Steps Catalog assets and resources in a system Assign quantifiable value and importance to the resources Identify the security vulnerabilities or potential threats to each resource Mitigate or eliminate the most serious vulnerabilities for the most valuable resources What is a Penetration Test?

Additional Penetration Testing Services and Types Depending on the scope, a pentest can expand beyond the network to include social engineering attacks or physical security tests. Are you safeguarding intellectual property? Did you just install a new security product throughout your organization?