cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
rodriguez
Viewer

Leveraging Penetration Testing for Internal Audits

Hi,

 

I'm part of an internal audit organization. We are looking for continuous improvement of our risk penetration and risk assessments. Have you heard about any organization that currently use penetration testing as part of their formal audits?

 

Any pros or cons that come to your mind?

 

Thanks in advance,

2 Replies
sdurbin
Newcomer III

Independent penetration testing is more commonly mandated by external bodies to achieve accreditation. For example, Government organisations mandate that partners must meet certain standards, with independent verification, in order to be able to exchange sensitive data.

 

However, I've worked with a number of organisations that perform their own internal penetration testing, and web application testing, activities. After all, understanding threat actors, assets and attack vectors is the key to successfully understanding the risk in any environment.

 

Therefore, there are a great deal of positives to come from incorporating these testing techniques. Particularly, during the discovery phase of your risk assessments. The results can be incorporated in to risk documents e.g. RMADS and risk registers.

 

The associated challenges are no different from many other security-related tasks. It can prove to be a difficult balancing act between security and operational efficiency. Broad stakeholder engagement, and effective internal communication, is very important to ensure these efforts are adopted successfully in any organisation. Senior level support, as always, is also key.

Wvipersg
Newcomer I

Yes , we use pen testing methods as a part of testing, especially web applications. We record and share our results as needed but use these for audit to show we are testing that controls are effective and find any controls that might need adjusted.
Wes D, CISSP