Penetration Testing as a Service: Understanding the Concept Inside and Out

Quick Summary: PTaaS offers a more proactive approach to cybersecurity with automated and manual tests combined in a single platform. But what PTaaS is and how it really helps organizations; these are the questions this blog will shed light on. So, let’s learn more about it.

Security testing is inevitable in protecting your data against evolving cyber threats. Traditional pentesting is widely used by organizations to conduct a comprehensive security audit of their IT infrastructure to discover hidden weaknesses, test its resilience, and enhance security posture.

However, traditional pentesting is a one-time test that organizations usually perform 1-2 times a year. Do you think it is enough to keep your assets safe? Well, if we look at the data by Statista, common IT security vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) have risen sharply over the past few years.

This indicates that more frequent security testing is pivotal in ensuring data protection. Here, PTaaS comes into the picture. It helps organizations perform Penetration test frequently to promptly discover and fix security weaknesses. It can be used to perform continuous automated tests and on-demand human-driven pentests to proactively catch vulnerabilities before they become a critical security risk.

This article provides detailed information about it to help you understand its meaning and importance. So, keep reading to make informed decisions about cybersecurity for your organization.

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What is Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS)?

Traditionally, penetration testing depended on an expert’s service who was either hired externally or was part of an internal team. Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) is a new concept that has emerged in the past few years.

It offers a hybrid approach to security assessment, combining automated testing with human-led audits. As a result, it allows organizations to leverage both kinds of testing - continuous and point-in-time. PTaaS enhances collaboration between the development and security teams with a common dashboard.

It helps in continuous testing to quickly identify and resolve security issues across various digital assets like web apps, APIs, networks, and more. It not only helps discover security weaknesses but also helps organizations adhere to compliances.

What are the Benefits of Penetration Testing as a Service?

Penetration testing is important, and it is a vital component of modern cybersecurity strategy. However, traditional pentesting isn’t a complete solution for contemporary organizations as they need frequent security testing to defend against evolving cyber threats.

So, there comes the role of Penetration Testing as a Service offering ongoing tests with tools and reports that help fix vulnerabilities faster. It helps improve security regularly by conducting tests constantly. Let’s check out how it helps in security testing by knowing its benefits.

Shift Left Security

PTaaS seamlessly integrates into a development workflow, allowing teams to catch security weaknesses early before an application is deployed. As a result, security teams can stay ahead of threat actors and build highly secure applications.

On-Demand Pentesting

PTaaS provides penetration testing on demand and displays the vulnerabilities detected when found and posted by pentesters on a centralized dashboard. It helps organizations gain insights into their threat landscape by mimicking the actions of a real hacker. These tests enable them to evaluate the efficacy of their current security posture.

Cost Effective

Penetration Testing as a Service is cost-effective compared to an in-house pentesting team. With PTaaS, your organization can leverage the sophisticated skills of various pen testers. Besides, they have the necessary expertise, tools, and experience in pentesting. However, your organization will have to invest in training, ṭools, and other resources in case of an in-house team that will increase the cost.

Efficiency and Speed

PTaaS offers more efficient and speedy testing compared to a traditional pentesting method. So, it reduces the time required for vulnerability remediation and saves resources. Since the PTaaS platform has experts with experience in serving diverse businesses, they are able to offer tailored services.

Continuous Testing

Pen Testing as a Service offers continuous security assessment to help identify vulnerabilities as early as possible and mitigate cybersecurity risks. Your organization can integrate continuous security testing into your CI/CD pipeline with PTaaS.

Compliance

There are various standards and compliances that organizations must adhere to build customer trust and avoid regulatory fines. PTaaS helps your organization align with diverse industry regulations like PCI DSS, GDPR, SOC2, OWASP, and more.

Scalability

Another advantage of choosing a PTaaS platform is scalability. It not only allows you to run a small-scale test for smaller organizations, but you can also scale up testing for large enterprises. Hence, this platform offers comprehensive security assessment regardless of an organization’s size.

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How Does the Penetration Testing as a Service Work?

Penetration testing, in general, is a lengthy process that takes a lot of time and energy. Besides, it is often a point-in-time test that may not effectively eliminate security threats an organization faces. There comes the role of Pen Testing as a Service that offers continuous testing to address security issues on demand. The following are the different steps.

Initial Assessment

It begins with the scanning and mapping of your applications, systems, and networks. Based on it, you will have an initial report of your current security posture. The report provides insights into how the posture responds to security risks. This report also works as a baseline for any progress.

Real-Time Reporting

Real-time reporting involves identifying and reporting vulnerabilities as soon as they are discovered. It helps intercept emerging CVEs and cyber threats to protect your digital assets from evolving risks. With near real-time pentesting reporting, you can promptly address security issues and avoid security breaches.

Attacker-Style Pentesting

While automated vulnerability assessment helps discover common security issues, an attacker-style pentesting offers more in-depth threat analysis. PTaaS provides attacker-style offensive pentests that simulate real-world attacks. As a result, it offers detailed reports on potential security risks.

Penetration Testing Reports

A good PTaaS platform will provide detailed insights into a threat landscape. Besides, it offers end-to-end vulnerability management instead of an overview of threats. So, it will provide vulnerability details, PoCs, CVSS score, steps to patch, and more.

Comparison Between PTaaS vs In-House Penetration Testing Team

You will need substantial resources and expertise for in-house penetration testing. Since it is a manual process, you will need to hire professionals to perform the tests and invest in their training, tools, and necessary infrastructure. So, it will take much of your time and resources.

On the other hand, Pen Testing as a Service is readily available with the necessary expertise and resources. You need not invest a penny; you get the services of the PTaaS vendors and pay as you go. Moreover, another advantage of PTaaS over traditional pentesting is that it combines automated testing, which ensures continuous assessment of your digital assets to identify security risks in web apps, APIs, etc.

But, on the other hand, you have in-house professionals who know your organization inside out and provide tailored testing. Being a part of your organization, they understand its weak spots well and can uncover vulnerabilities more effectively.

Moreover, it is comparatively more costly. Hence, it depends on your budget and requirements which option you choose for security audits.

What are the Challenges Faced in Penetration Testing as a Service?

Is everything good about PTaaS? Well, like other methods, it also has a few limitations. So, let’s find out which are the challenges of Pen Testing as a Service.

Rigidity

PTaaS platforms follow standardized testing methods that ensure consistency and efficiency. However, this rigidity in testing poses a challenge for organizations because they cannot customize it according to their unique requirements.

It is possible that the type of penetration testing that worked for you may not suit another organization. Different organizations need different and tailored testing strategies depending on their industry, business model, and threat landscape.

Limited Access

If you need more depth in testing, the tester must have access to internal information systems. However, only limited access to an organization’s data and systems is provided to PTaaS vendors, resulting in a lack of depth in testing. It limits the ability of the platform to adequately discover vulnerabilities.

False Positives

False positives can arise with PTaaS tools and processes that flag vulnerabilities while they do not exist. Hence, choosing the right platform that offers accurate vulnerability assessment and prioritizes the results is necessary to avoid wasting resources.

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In a Nutshell

PTaaS is essentially a VAPT platform that combines both Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Penetration Testing (PT). As a result, it can be leveraged for continuous security testing and point in time testing. Besides, it offers automated vulnerability scanning and simulated attacks through pen testing.

You can further simplify this process and reduce overall costs with ZeroThreat’s DAST tool that offers VAPT. It is an automated penetration testing tool that makes security testing a breeze. You can conduct continuous vulnerability scans and regular automated pen tests to protect your web apps and APIs from over 40,000+ vulnerabilities, including OWASP Top 10.

With an AI-powered spider, it is capable of scanning even complex web apps with heavy use of JavaScript. It precisely detects vulnerabilities with zero false positives, and you can massively reduce your manual pen test efforts by 90%.

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