Penetration Testing and Why You Need an IT Consulting Team in the Bay Area to Conduct It

Even though no business is immune from security breaches, IT consulting is the key to maximum protection for your business in the Bay Area. Expert IT consultants understand the importance of cybersecurity better than an in-house team, due to always staying up-to-date with threats and new technology. Here are key measures an IT consultant can take to keep your business network safe.

Conducting an Infrastructure Audit

One of the primary reasons businesses turn to IT consulting service providers in the Bay Area is to oversee their infrastructure health to minimize future maintenance. The more your overall infrastructure is free of vulnerabilities, the more accurately you can predict business continuity and productivity levels. Your IT consultant can check your entire system to estimate when it will be time to replace old hardware and software. Usually, once an operating system is no longer serviced by the manufacturer, it's time to invest in new software.

Implementing Penetration Testing

Your IT team can challenge the strength of your infrastructure by conducting penetration tests. These pen tests help them uncover security threats, such as areas that can be easily breached by unapproved users. It's important to know how strong your system is so that you can be confident about your security and focus on your core business. The tests will provide answers for strengthening the system to reduce the chances of a breach and downtime.Every business that stores confidential information in a database needs to take proactive steps to protect digital assets. Some businesses, such as healthcare organizations, can face heavy fines for not being HIPAA-compliant and taking the necessary steps to prevent breaches as much as possible. The reason it's worth it to invest in pen testing is that it can block damage that costs millions of dollars to fix and replace assets. Pen testing also reduces the chances of reputation damage and lawsuits.Other laws come into play in which businesses must be compliant with auditing, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Anyone accepting credit cards online needs to be aware of penalties involving breaches and comply with security certification. Pen testing reports help identify these possible weaknesses. Nearly 40% of businesses are not prepared to deal with a cyberattack, according to a recent IT industry study.

Conclusion

Running a secure business should be a top priority and can be achieved by working with IT consulting experts in the Bay Area. Instead of planning for downtime, a more competitive move is to establish backup plans in case of disasters and engage in pen testing to limit damage from a breach. Contact us now at Riverfy to learn more about making your online business as secure as possible and to know more about our IT services in the Bay Area.