Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Most teams approach network penetration testing the same way: pick a few well-known tools, run automated scans, and call it a day. But in today’s evolving threat landscape, that is a losing strategy. Attackers do not just rely on off-the-shelf exploits but adapt, chain vulnerabilities, and find gaps that automated tools miss. CTOs and engineering leaders need to rethink their approach with respect to context, strategy, and how they integrate into your security workflow.

AI is reshaping industries, but security teams treat it like traditional software. Unfortunately, the real problem is AI models don’t just have bugs—they have systemic vulnerabilities. Adversarial manipulation, data poisoning, and model inversion aren’t edge cases; they’re real threats attackers are already exploiting. Yet, most security programs lack a structured approach to testing AI risks. Conventional pentesting isn’t enough.

A critical aspect of manufacturing, energy, and transportation is Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and Operational Technologies (OT). The rapid pace of digital growth makes these systems susceptible to cyberattacks. OT and ICS system security is important, making penetration testing an essential activity. This tactic makes it possible to mitigate weaknesses so they are no longer vulnerabilities. It is an effective measure of asset protection.

Cyberattacks don’t usually begin with sophisticated hacking techniques. Often, they start with something far simpler—stolen credentials. A phishing attack, a leaked database, or even weak internal security controls can provide an attacker with legitimate access to an organization's network.

Annual penetration testing serves as the baseline for cybersecurity best practice and can help businesses identify and address vulnerabilities before they turn into exploitable threats. While some businesses assume that once a year pen testing is sufficient, it’s worth understanding that it is a minimum requirement rather than a comprehensive security strategy.

As businesses rely more on technology, the need to identify and remediate vulnerabilities becomes ever more pressing to avoid devastating breaches. Automated penetration testing offers a revolutionary approach to vulnerability detection, utilising cutting-edge tools to mimic hacker behaviour and uncover weaknesses in systems. This method not only enhances the efficiency of assessments but also significantly reduces the time and resources required compared to traditional penetration testing.

Threat-led penetration testing brings together specialist offensive (red team) security skills and threat intelligence to enable businesses to proactively test and identify any weaknesses, deficiencies or gaps in their controls and counteractive measures that could be exploited by threat actors. In this article, we set out what threat-led pen testing is, how it relates to the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the testing requirements included as part of the new EU regulation.

Web application penetration testing involves performing a simulated attack on a web app to determine weaknesses that hackers can exploit. The testing process uses emulations of real-world attacks to identify hidden attacks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), or cross-site request forgery (CSRF). What is the worst that could happen if you don’t continuously test your web application for vulnerabilities?

In the context of penetration (pen) testing, false positives are where the testing tools or methods identify a security vulnerability or issue that doesn’t actually exist. Essentially, a false alarm. This can happen for a few reasons, such as misconfigurations in the testing tools, incorrect assumptions, or environmental factors.