Chapter 2: Assessing Your Digital Vulnerabilities

Before implementing any security measures, it is essential to identify and assess your organisation's digital vulnerabilities.

This chapter guides you through the process of conducting a thorough assessment, including vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, and risk analysis.

By evaluating your system's weaknesses, you can prioritise and address the most critical areas.

Conducting vulnerability scans

Conducting a vulnerability scan on your internal systems is the first step in establishing a base line for your IT. A vulnerability scan helps you understand the current state of your IT and helps in developing a strategy for improvement.

Performing penetration testing

Penetration tests are performed to identify weaknesses in network security both internally and from the outside world. A penetration test (or Pentest) gives you real idea of what your public exposure looks like and how easy it would be for a “bad actor” (Hacker) to breach your security measures.

Risk analysis and prioritisation of vulnerabilities based on potential impact

After conducting a vulnerability scan and performing a Pentest, you are now in a position where you can see how vulnerable your IT systems are. The next step is to assess the risks and analyse the result by prioritising them based on the potential impact to the business. By creating a remediation list based on risk and impact, you are giving your business and your IT systems the best chance of surviving an attack, as long as the remediation work is carried out swiftly upon discovery

The longer these vulnerabilities exist, there is more chance of them being exploited.

Regular testing of your IT environment is key to staying on top of any new vulnerabilities.