Penetration Testing or Vulnerability Scanning? What’s the Difference?

Pentesting and vulnerability scanning are often confused for the
same service. The problem is, business owners often use one when
they really need the other. Let’s dive in and explain the
differences.

People frequently confuse penetration testing and vulnerability
scanning, and it’s easy to see why. Both look for weaknesses in
your IT infrastructure by exploring your systems in the same way an
actual hacker would. However, there is a very important distinction
between the two – and when each is the better option.

Manual or automated?

Penetration testing is a manual
security assessment where cyber security professional attempts to
find a way to break into your systems. It’s a hands-on, in-depth
test to evaluate security controls across a variety of systems,
including web application, network and cloud environments. This
kind of testing could take several weeks to complete, and due to
its complexity and cost, is commonly carried out once a year.

Vulnerability scanning, on the other hand, is
automated and performed by tools which
can be either installed directly on your network or accessed
online. Vulnerability scanners run thousands of security checks
across your systems, producing a list of vulnerabilities with
remediation advice. So it’s possible to run continuous security
checks even without having a full-time cyber security expert on
your team.

One-off or regular?

Penetration tests have long been an essential part of many
organization’s strategy to protect themselves from cyber attack,
and an excellent way to find flaws at a certain point in time. But
penetration testing alone can leave organizations defenceless
inbetween testing.

Performing annual penetration tests as a primary defence against
attackers has long been an essential part of many organisation’s
strategy to protect themselves from cyber attack, for good reason.
And while it is certainly better than doing nothing, it does have a
fairly significant drawback — what happens between tests?

For example, what happens when a critical new vulnerability is
discovered in the Apache web server operating a sensitive customer
portal during that long year between their annual pentesting? Or a
security misconfiguration is made by a junior developer? What if a
network engineer temporarily opens up a port on a firewall exposing
a database to the internet, and forgets to close it? Whose job is
it to notice these issues which, if left unchecked, could result in
a data breach or compromise?

Pentesting is not enough

Without continuous monitoring of issues such as these, they
wouldn’t be identified and fixed before attackers got the chance to
exploit them.

Companies that need robust physical security often boast of
having 24/7 automated solutions to deter attackers 365 days a year.
So why do some treat cyber security any differently? Especially
when on average 20 new vulnerabilities get discovered every single
day.

So you can see why infrequently scheduled pentesting alone is
not enough. Here’s a simple analogy: it’s like checking the locks
of your high-security premises once a year, but leaving it unmanned
or not checking if it’s secure until your next annual once over.
Sounds crazy, right? Who’s checking that the door’s locked?

Around the clock coverage

While some companies still use annual pentesting as their only
line of defence, many are starting to see how frequently new
threats arise and the value of continuous, automated threat
scanning.

Scanning on a regular basis with a vulnerability scanner like
Intruder^[1]
complements manual testing by providing organisations with ongoing
security coverage between manual penetration tests.
Intruder’s automated scanner runs around the clock alerting users
to new vulnerabilities as soon as they appear.

Vulnerability scanning is already the first port of call for
companies of all sizes, with expert manual penetration testing
included in solutions like Intruder’s Vanguard^[2]
employed as a powerful backup.

It’s not enough to simply do one or the other. Thankfully,
awareness is increasing of the need for a strategy which provides
protection all year round.

Intruder’s continuous vulnerability scanning service helps
you keep on top of the latest vulnerabilities and alerts you to
emerging threats which affect your most-exposed systems. Get
started with a free trial
today.^[3]