Penetration Testing-as-a-Service: A Step-by-Step Guide

Cyber attacks are evolving at an alarmingly fast rate, making the digital world more complicated. Businesses of all types have to worry about attackers invading systems and data. With this in mind, Penetration Testing as a Service (PaaS) has grown into a key method for making security better.

Penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) is a cloud-based service that helps businesses check their security and find vulnerabilities in their barriers before hackers do. As hackers get better, the need for PTaaS has gone through the roof. The global PTaaS market will hit USD 301 million by 2029, according to a new study from MarketsandMarkets. It will grow at a rate of 20.5% per year.

Hacks are getting worse and happening more often, which shows how important it is to test security thoroughly. In 2023 alone, more than 3,800 data breaches were recorded around the world. These breaches put billions of private records at risk. A shocking 51% of these leaks could have been stopped with better testing of security. Businesses hire PTaaS companies to do full vulnerability scans and give them useful information on how to improve their security in order to lower these risks.

Firms can get skilled penetration testing services through PaaS without having to hire their own security experts. Hacking can be left to professionals with a lot of experience, so they can focus on their main business tasks. PTaaS is also cheap, flexible, and simple to set up, which makes it a good choice for all types of businesses.

We'll talk about the most important parts of Penetration Testing as a Service and show businesses how to use this important security measure step by step.

The results of hacking tests used to be kept secret until the test was over. This information was useful, but because it was old, it was hard for companies to quickly find and fix security holes. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a way to offer software that lets businesses run automated tests and get real-time data whenever they need it.

Dashboards from PTaaS providers show a lot of information before, during, and after testing. PTaaS providers offer tools to look for vulnerabilities and see how well security measures are working, just like standard penetration testing. A lot of PTaaS providers also keep knowledge bases to help in-house security teams, and sometimes they even offer direct help from the testers who found the flaws.

PTaaS is useful for businesses of all kinds because most platforms are made to meet a range of needs, such as offering thorough testing tools and custom reporting tools to meet regulatory requirements.

Modern ways of making software, like DevOps, stress speed and flexibility for the development, management, and security teams. PTaaS fits in well with these methods. Some important benefits of PTaaS are:

Hacker-Like Testing On Demand: PTaaS acts like an attacker to find holes in security and check how well existing defenses work against real-life cyber threats. Tests can be started whenever someone wants them to, and weaknesses are shown as they are found.

Early Feedback on Code Changes: PTaaS is built into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and sends vulnerability alerts to developers before they release new code to live environments. This helps teams stay ahead of possible threats.

Fast Remediation Support: PTaaS platforms offer detailed remediation support, such as screenshots and videos, to help businesses find and fix flaws quickly, which saves them time and effort.

Access to Security Engineers: PTaaS providers often give users access to security engineers, who can help close security holes without putting too much pressure on internal teams.

PTaaS has a lot of benefits, but it also has some problems:

Limitations on Third Parties: Not all third-party providers offer continuous penetration testing. For example, Amazon Web Services (AWS) only lets you try things after getting permission first, and only for a maximum of 12 weeks. This means that PTaaS is only available a few times a year regularly.

Keep and Handle Sensitive Data: Vendors secure sensitive data, which requires a lot of complicated key management. This level of complexity can make it harder for the seller to safely archive data.

Budget Limits: Automated orchestration makes it easier to keep track of funds and internal resources. However, security programs that don't have enough money may have trouble with shorter testing rounds and fixing bugs that are found during annual tests.

Hands-on and human approach

Software- and automation-driven solutions can't find all of an environment's or app's important flaws on their own. Expertise from people is needed for manual testing because it gives you the freedom and imagination to find complex security holes and cyber threats that automation might miss. Professionals who are good at their jobs can tell instinctively when to dig deeper and when to change the subject. PTaaS providers whose services include manual testing cover more ground and are better equipped to deal with complicated security problems.

Expertise You Can Trust

The testers' skills have a big impact on the quality of a security testing service. Look for PTaaS providers that hire qualified people with certifications like OSCP, OSCE, and OSWE and related experience. These titles can help you figure out how skilled the vendor's team is.

A crowdsourced approach is used by some PTaaS providers. This means that each organization gets a different group of testers. This way of doing things might make it harder to build a long-term relationship with a tester who knows the company's systems and apps. Also, community models might not be as standardized, which could lower the quality of the results and make the testing process less efficient. This model, on the other hand, can give different points of view and find weaknesses that one tester might miss over time.

Reporting that you can use and act on

Penetration tests that work should give you results that are both complete and useful. There must be both a high-level executive summary and a thorough technical breakdown of the results in reports. This should include the effects, risks, vulnerability information, proofs of concept, attack vectors, mitigation suggestions, and the most important ways to fix the problem. Reporting that is clear and actionable makes sure that everyone can understand and deal with security problems correctly.

Friendly to DevSecOps

PTaaS helps DevSecOps teams because it adds security early in the development process. Regular testing throughout the SDLC helps find and fix security problems quickly, so they don't have to be fixed again in later phases, which can be expensive. PTaaS providers often offer tools that are specifically made for technology, security, and business teams. These dashboards give teams information that helps them fix vulnerabilities faster and see more risks. The dashboards should work well with current tech stacks and cloud settings, and they should have features that make things run more smoothly and give you more control.

Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) is a must-have for improving the security of your business. PTaaS helps protect private data and make sure that regulations are followed by finding and fixing vulnerabilities in a planned way. This step-by-step guide shows the whole process, from planning and defining the problem to running tests and reviewing the results. Organizations can get ongoing monitoring and the most up-to-date security steps by using the services of PTaaS providers. Using PTaaS not only makes your security stronger but also gives you peace of mind because you know that possible threats are being handled before they happen. Because cyber dangers are always changing, using PTaaS is a smart way to protect your digital assets and keep your security strong. If you are looking for the best Penetration Testing as a service then get in touch with SafeAeon today.

1: What kinds of tests do most PTaaS services include?

A lot of different testing methods are used in penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) to figure out how safe a company is. Usually, this includes web application testing to protect against web-based attacks, network penetration testing to find holes in network infrastructure, and vulnerability tests to find and rank system and application flaws.

2: How often should a company do security testing?

Penetration testing should be done regularly, but how often varies on the organization's size, industry, risk tolerance, and government rules. There isn't a single right answer, but as a starting point, many experts say that security testing should be done once a year.

3. What kinds of reports should I get from a PTaaS provider?

A full PTaaS provider will give you thorough reports that explain what the penetration test found. Usually, these reports have an executive summary that lists the most important vulnerabilities, a technical deep look into the weaknesses that were found, and suggestions for how to fix them.

4. How do I figure out PTaaS's return on investment (ROI)?

PTaaS ROI can be hard to figure out, but it's important to do so. Some important measures are the number of vulnerabilities found and fixed, the number of data breaches avoided, and compliance with industry standards. You can also show how valuable a PTaaS service is by comparing the cost of using it to the possible financial damage from a data breach.