Many people shy away from learning more about cybersecurity because they think it’s a complex field to get into. While they’re not entirely wrong, avoiding the subject altogether means you might fall prey to the common ailments cybersecurity seeks to circumvent. Worse still, it might mean your business doesn’t get the proper protection it needs, and let’s face it, with giant corporations experiencing security breaches happening every other Thursday, every little bit helps.

Penetration testing, otherwise known as pentesting, might be the answer to your security needs. It refers to testing a company’s security system to find any weaknesses it might have. “Red teams” and “Blue teams” analyse these weaknesses in different ways and proceed to provide the company with detailed reports of what attacks the company would be vulnerable to and how the company can improve. This is an essential part of any organisation’s security process. If you’re new to pentesting, or you’ve never heard of any of these terms before, this article should explain the basics.

Why are residential proxies necessary in penetration testing?

Businesses use residential proxies to route internet traffic through them. This allows them to more accurately identify vulnerabilities in their systems. There are quite a few residential proxies on the market, but if you’re looking for a proxy that’s exceptionally good for pen-testing, head over to https://smartproxy.com/proxies/residential-proxies.

What’s the difference between red teams and blue teams?

While there is a certain overlap in their job descriptions, there are differences between the roles of the red and blue teams.

The red team’s job is to detect any vulnerabilities within a security system and eliminate them before they become an issue.

Red teams pose as an actual attacker and attempt to launch an attack against the company. By acting as a real attacker, they can discover the same flaws an attacker would if one tried to hack into the company. Typically, the techniques they use to do this include standard phishing techniques and identity spoofing to impersonate employees.

The blue team’s job is to defend against attacks. After analysing the flaws in the company, they improve the company’s existing response to an attack. They usually use reverse engineering and digital footprint analysis to retrace the steps of the red team, allowing them to have the complete picture of how an attack can be successful.

As you can see, the similarities between both the red team and blue team end at scanning a company’s security framework for vulnerabilities. The red team then goes on to exploit the weaknesses it finds while the blue team proceeds to find a solution to any vulnerabilities which are present.

Contrary to popular belief, the red team cannot work independently of the blue team and vice versa. This is because they complement each other perfectly; one launches attacks to test for vulnerabilities while the other seeks to solve these vulnerabilities. As such, one can’t replace the other.

What are purple teams?

Despite their best efforts, it’s pretty common to find red teams withholding information from blue teams and vice versa due to them being on different sides. This isn’t ideal since the two teams are supposed to share their findings and collaborate on solutions. While most companies hire external parties to do penetration testing to avoid any feelings of competition between employees, these situations continue to arise. This is where the purple teams come in.

Purple teams involve teammates from both the blue and red team working together to share their resources and findings. Since team members are part of a team, they have no choice but to work together to find the solution they’re looking for.

How can penetration testing help your business?

• Tests how your organisation will react in a crisis situation. You could think of it as a fire drill. It’s seemingly inconvenient – until the real thing happens. Pen testing allows you to figure out how your organisation will respond when an attack is launched against it, allowing you to troubleshoot and figure out how you can improve.
• Your business is more likely to be in compliance with the law. Pentesting doesn’t just reveal security flaws; it can also reveal errors in company processes which can cause you to be out of compliance with several regulations. Detecting these issues early on can save you a lot of money in fines and time you would have spent trying to get out of it.
• Risk assessment. Aside from the obvious security threat, there are other risks that come with your business being hacked into. You need to be aware of the various points of failure within your business so you can put a plan in motion when the time comes. For example, how much would it cost you if the electricity in your office was down for the day? What if none of the office computers could be used due to a virus?

It doesn’t matter how big your company is – you need a proper security system in place. Pentesting allows businesses to see where their flaws lie and helps to eliminate them before they become a bigger issue down the road. With the number of security breaches major corporations are suffering from these days, there’s no better time to start beefing up your company’s security than the present.