‘Bug bounty signs the end of pentests’ ‘Bug bounty, the death of the traditional penetration test’… Do you remember these article headlines? Today we see that this is not the case and that both approaches continue to exist.

Both services address the same initial need: to test a company’s web applications and infrastructure with realistic attacks. What are the differences between the two approaches? How do you choose between a bug bounty and a penetration test?

We present you nine main criteria to consider.

Regularly carrying out penetration tests on e-commerce websites ensures a good level of security. This is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the site as well as the company’s brand image with its customers. But the security challenges are so numerous that it is sometimes necessary to establish priorities.

The network infrastructure is at the core of business operations in most industries. It can be considered the nerve centre of the entire IT organisation because it centralises data, simplifies data exchange and facilitates communication between employees.

It is therefore an essential tool for the smooth running of organisations, which requires constant attention in terms of security in order to protect yourself against increasingly numerous and sophisticated external and internal attacks.

Most web applications manipulate personal and/or business data, in other words, sensitive data. Passwords, email addresses, credit card numbers, health data and others are at the centre of the battle between two opposing sides. On one side, companies, whether small, medium or large, seeking to defend themselves against intrusions into their information systems, and on the other, increasingly experienced attackers, attracted by the lure of gain and stimulated by the many breaches too often ignored by their future victims.

Do you know this half-joke, ‘there is no cloud, it’s just someone else’s computer’? Cloud computing is often seen as THE solution, so it is often overlooked that it is only a tool, with its advantages and disadvantages.

During a security audit, 3 approaches are possible. They reflect different levels of information and access given to pentesters. The choice of the approach for a penetration testing depends on your objectives: how deep do you want the tests to be? And would you like to test the external or internal threat?

Defining the scope of a penetration test is a delicate step. What will be the target of the pentest? More precisely, which functional and technical aspects should be tested in priority? Moreover, how deep and how often should a pentest be recommended?

Digital has become central for the health sector. It applies to all activities, from patient admissions to prescription management to monitoring the physical environment. In this context, cybersecurity risks have also become widespread. Conducting a security audit enables to concretely assess risks for each institution or company of the health sector.

Here is an overview of the cybersecurity challenges that we frequently encounter and that can be points of attention during a pentest. While data protection is a major issue, other risks related to hardware and IT infrastructure are also recurring points of concern.

Fintech companies are generally more exposed to risks and more mature than the average in terms of cybersecurity. The nature of their activities implies the need to take into account the risks of fraud and cyberattacks right from the design of a new product.

The pentest then confronts the security choices and protections in place with the real threat. Depending on the nature of the product (payment solution, credit platform, banking management, private equity, etc.), the business stakes will be different. However, here are a few details on the main risks and the most frequent pentest priorities according to our experience with fintech companies.

Performing a pentest can be part of your objectives, without it being the priority of the moment. This for various reasons: developments are in progress, a migration is planned, a budget has not yet been allocated, etc. Given the different constraints and priorities that need to be respected, when is the right time to perform a pentest?

We will present various situations in which the question arises and give you some keys to identify the right time to perform a penetration test.