The chances are, your network is not secure

Some estimates put the percentage of deployed systems that haven't had security patches applied in the last 12 months at a staggering 65%. Alarmingly, this percentage increases when just looking at devices at the edge of the network like firewalls and routers. This is all the more worrying given how important edge devices are in securing your network and your data. One possible reason for this discrepancy is that routers and firewalls tend not to pop up messages nagging you every time an update is available, as recent versions of Windows do.

Don't be the last person to find out about your network being hacked

A nightmare scenario that many IT Managers have faced is finding out that they've been hacked not via their staff or usual alerting mechanisms, but from their customers. The damage to reputations can be immense and take months or even years of painstaking work to repair. One of the best ways to avoid this is with an advanced network testing program, carried out using the same tools as the hackers do by a trusted source like OpenIP .

Put yourself in the customers shoes

Think about it for a moment: would you do business with a company who had recently been hacked? Would you do business with an organisation who are irresponsible enough not to keep their customers confidential data secure? From the moment of the hacking onwards, you'd have a nagging doubt in the back of your mind about the security of any confidential information you'd exchanged with them in the past. And this is exactly how your customers will be thinking about you if you're unfortunate enough to be the victim of a hacking. You won't be thought of as the victim, so much as the company who couldn't be bothered to keep their systems secure. And that's not to mention the legal implications of not keeping confidential data secure.

OpenIP recommend the 'grey box' approach to penetration testing. This involves you giving us certain key details about your network, followed by us attempting to gain access and exploit any vulnerabilities in your setup; your setup includes the human element of your network as well as the actual routers, firewalls etc. Obviously we will stop short of actually damaging your network.

Why penetration test?

Even with the best patching and updating regime in the world, sometimes the complexity of configurations and interactions between different parts of your network infrastructure can let you down. This is all the more relevant with todays routers and firewalls offering ever more features and potential for unintended consequences. Therefore, an impartial observer like OpenIP has an important role to play in validating the security of your network, and offering advice on corrective measures where necessary.