Helping organisations identify vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them
Penetration testing (pentesting) has long been a key part of proactive cybersecurity strategies, helping organisations identify vulnerabilities before threat actors can exploit them. However, today’s businesses face several challenges in conducting effective pentesting. Is a single snapshot in time from a traditional pentest—often conducted once a year—enough to provide an accurate picture of the current threat landscape? Do these tests identify real, exploitable vulnerabilities and pinpoint the areas where your business should focus its remediation efforts?
These challenges not only affect the quality of security testing, but also hinder organisations’ ability to respond quickly to emerging threats. Based on findings from the State of Pentesting 2024 report by Pentera, it’s clear that overcoming these barriers requires a more strategic, adaptive approach to security validation.
The Growing Frequency Gap
One of the most significant challenges in modern pentesting is the growing frequency gap between security testing and the pace at which organisations are evolving their IT environments. According to the Pentera report, 73% of businesses report making changes to their IT environments at least quarterly, yet only 40% conduct pentesting with similar frequency. This gap leaves organisations vulnerable for extended periods, as new vulnerabilities introduced by system changes go untested until the next scheduled pentest.
As threat actors become more adept at exploiting these gaps, organisations must recognise that their security validation efforts need to be as dynamic as their IT infrastructure. Regular, if not continuous, testing is essential to ensure security measures keep pace with system changes.
Addressing Overwhelming Alerts and Prioritising Remediation
Security teams are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of alerts generated by various security tools. The State of Pentesting survey revealed that many organisations face upwards of 500 security events each week that require remediation. With limited resources, it becomes difficult for security teams to prioritise which issues to address first.
The goal of becoming “patch perfect” is unrealistic, as organisations struggle to address their most critical vulnerabilities quickly.
The Role of Automation in Modern Pentesting
Given the complexity of today’s IT environments and the resource constraints many organisations face, continuous security validation offers IT and risk leaders a way to effectively evaluate their security infrastructure regularly, reduce alert fatigue, and identify the real vulnerabilities that need immediate attention.
Automated tools allow for continuous testing against the latest attack techniques, ensuring security teams maintain a real-time view of their risk posture. By automating the security validation process, organisations can scale their efforts, conduct more frequent tests, and keep up with the constantly evolving threat landscape.
While manual pentesting has its place, it is limited in scope and typically only conducted once or a few times a year. By incorporating automation into their security strategy, organisations can close the frequency gap and stay ahead of attackers by continuously testing their systems for vulnerabilities.
Board-Level Engagement and the Pressure of Budgets
Boards of directors are becoming more involved in cybersecurity discussions. According to the State of Pentesting report, more than half of CISOs now present pentesting results directly to their leadership teams and boards, highlighting the importance of demonstrating risk exposure at the highest levels. This increased visibility is pushing security leaders to take a more proactive and transparent approach to cybersecurity.
However, this heightened attention also comes with pressure to do more with fewer resources. In 2024, many CISOs are tasked with improving security outcomes despite tighter budgets. While enterprises are investing an average of $164,400 in pentesting—around 13% of their total IT security budgets—many are grappling with how to maximise the value of these investments.
Cost-effective, continuous validation can be a major asset in this context, allowing organisations to get more value from their pentesting efforts without overburdening security teams.
How Appurity Can Help: Automating Your Security Validation
Validation Service, powered by Pentera, enables organisations to conduct comprehensive, real-time security tests across their entire attack surface.
By integrating real-time threat intelligence and attack methodologies, we ensure that your defences are tested against the latest cyberattack techniques, continuously adapting to emerging threats. This ongoing validation process gives you unparalleled visibility into your security posture, allowing for quick identification of weaknesses and more efficient prioritisation of remediation efforts.
The Value:
- Comprehensive Testing: Real-time testing against ransomware threats, credential policies, Active Directory configurations, Black and Grey Box testing, and more.
- Continuous Monitoring: Never miss a vulnerability—our automated service keeps your defences up-to-date 24/7.
- Actionable Insights: Identify the most critical vulnerabilities and receive detailed reports with clear, actionable steps for improving your security.
Cost Efficiency: Optimise your security investments by identifying ineffective or redundant controls, streamlining your stack, and saving resources.