The quality of any service depends a lot on the service provider. This principle applies even more strictly to intricate services like penetration testing. Choosing the wrong service provider might result in your time, money, and resources going in vain. Therefore, you need to be careful while choosing a service provider for such complex processes.
Experience, expertise, and reliability are some necessary qualities you must look out for while selecting a service provider for application penetration testing. This high level of selectiveness is important because the pen testers will be having access to your applications and the critical data contained within them. It might result in catastrophic consequences if you put this control into the wrong hands.
Additionally, choosing the right application pen testing service provider is important to ensure precise and accurate results.
Let us discuss how you can choose the best service provider to conduct penetration testing on your applications.
Top 5 Things to Consider While Choosing the Right Application Penetration Testing Provider
Application pen testing is an intricate procedure. It plays a key role in ensuring the security of your cyberinfrastructure and digital assets. The process involves simulating real cyberattacks on your applications to assess the vulnerabilities present within them. It requires precision to execute this test and procure accurate results.
If you want to hire the right application pen testing service for your organization, consider the following factors while selecting:
1. Experience and Expertise
Always look for a service provider who has skilled team members who are equipped with expertise in penetration testing. They must have proven in-battle experience in dealing with sophisticated attack techniques. Plus, also look at their testimonials and reviews to make sure that they have a track record of delivering high-quality services.
2. Certifications and Accreditations
Standard cyber security certifications like Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) mark the credibility of a service provider. This proves that the service providers are professionals and possess the necessary skills and knowledge to perform application penetration testing.
3. Methodology
Before hiring a pen testing service, you need to know what methodologies they use to execute the test. Always choose a service provider that uses standardized methodologies such as the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Testing Guide. It is even more important in the case of web application security testing. This will make sure that the pen testing is conducted with a structured approach and covers all possible attack scenarios.
4. Tools and Technology
Look for pen testers who are able to wield the latest tools and technologies for penetration testing. Outdated tools cannot detect and exploit the latest vulnerabilities. Make sure the service provider you are choosing has access to all the modern tools and technologies. Also, they must have the expertise to use these resources.
5. Reporting:
Reporting is an underestimated quality that businesses often ignore while choosing a pen testing service provider. However, it has a major role to play in rectifying the security errors within your applications. You must always check the reporting skill of a service provider before hiring.
Along with these top 5 things, you also need to keep a check on your budget while hiring an application penetration testing service provider.
