What is Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS)?

Given that cybersecurity threats have evolved hugely over the past few years, it’s only reasonable that threat prevention evolves alongside.

Enter, then, penetration testing as a service, or PTaaS – which is a relatively new take on traditional penetration testing.

Penetration testing as a service, like traditional penetration testing, helps business operators understand how well their cybersecurity fares against an attacker. However, it’s considered more scalable and actionable in real-time.

In this guide, we examine how PTaaS works in practice, its key features, benefits, and challenges, and what to consider when researching providers.

What is Penetration Testing as a Service?

Much like traditional penetration testing services, PTaaS features a range of techniques that experts follow to run ethical hacks on their clients’ systems. Its main aim is to uncover hidden security weaknesses that hackers might use to break in and wreak havoc.

In fact, PTaaS’s main appeal is in its frequency and flexibility. Much like subscribing to a regular auditing service, PTaaS experts offer penetration testing support on demand, meaning clients can access regular, relevant cybersecurity data.

This allows clients to adapt penetration testing more to their individual needs. While traditional penetration testing is recommended at least twice a year, companies can ask for PTaaS tests to be run ad hoc.

PTaaS is growing increasingly popular, too, with market value CAGR set to explode by over three times by 2030.

“The growing complexity of IT infrastructures and the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals make outsourced PTaaS solutions an attractive and cost-effective option for many organizations.”    - MarketsAndMarkets, “Penetration Testing as a Service Market”

How Penetration Testing as a Service Works

PTaaS operates as a continuous, flexible security assessment that helps business owners spot security flaws almost as and when they occur. Crucially, PTaaS combines automated scanning and task setting alongside human insight and contextual analysis.

That means, instead of relying on automated vulnerability scanning alone, businesses get the best of both options. PTaaS is easy to arrange ad hoc or through a schedule, and clients can adjust real-time data reporting, analysis, and different types of penetration testing.

Human expertise is crucial to PTaaS’s success as a model. That’s because automated scanning and testing, while broad and flexible in its own right, cannot be relied upon to understand the context of some vulnerabilities.

One of the key benefits our customers often highlight about penetration testing is the expert human analysis it provides—going beyond automated scans to uncover complex vulnerabilities that might otherwise be missed.

Benefits and Challenges of PTaaS

Before entering into PTaaS, it’s always important to consider the pros and cons of such a service. Let’s break these down.

Benefits of PTaaS

• PTaaS is often cost-effective. Running regular penetration testing checks can help companies spot emerging errors faster than with bi-annual scans. Therefore, they stand to save more money by finding and fixing errors faster.
• Remediation is lightning quick. Given that PTaaS can be deployed at any time, and that it can be tweaked to focus on highly specific areas of security, many people find that remediation for weaknesses is extremely fast.
• It’s easy to integrate. Several companies, including business owners we work with, confirm that it’s beneficial to integrate PTaaS into the early stages of coding and development. Doing so helps to ensure the code being written is secure and operable before deployment.
• You’ll always stay informed. A key benefit of PTaaS is its real-time data. Rather than waiting for penetration reports after several months, clients can access the remediation advice they need whenever they desire.

Challenges of PTaaS

• It’s not a catch-all solution for large or complex infrastructures. Although PTaaS is highly flexible, it can still be limited when it comes to scope and context with regard to complex control systems. Therefore, it might not be so flexible for some potential clients.
• It’s not infinitely flexible. PTaaS’s flexibility can only stretch so far, and some businesses may have risk profiles that its out-of-box functionality cannot adequately support. In these cases, a customized, tailored solution through traditional penetration testing is advised.
• There are short budgeting cycles. Penetration testing cost via PTaaS can potentially be expensive at first, especially if you need to request many tests over a short period. It can carry short budgeting cycles, making immediate expenses hard to justify (though entirely recoupable in the long term).
• Vendors differ on restrictions and data handling. Not all PTaaS vendors explicitly encrypt the data they handle, and in some cases, request clients to make requests weeks or even months in advance. Many VikingCloud customers claim that our ironclad approach to data encryption is a key reason for investing in our expertise.

PTaaS vs. Traditional Penetration Testing

Let’s break down some of the key differences between PTaaS and traditional penetration testing.

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Choosing the Right PTaaS Provider

As mentioned, PTaaS is only so effective depending on the vendor(s) you choose to work with.

Key Factors to Consider

Before hiring a PTaaS vendor, always check experience, certifications within their industry, and dedication to compliance. To rely on ad hoc reports and real-time data, you need assurance that you’re working with genuine, provable human expertise in PTaaS.

Do also assess the company’s approach to handling and securing data itself, such as through the cloud and SaaS. Can they assuredly handle and store data within industry standards and expectations? Do they encrypt all the data they hold and process?

It’s also important to consider how flexible and scalable the PTaaS vendor can be around your specific needs. As mentioned, some service providers can be more restrictive than others – this is certainly the case based on industry feedback we’ve had from our relieved customers.

Evaluating PTaaS Vendors

When you’ve lined up potential vendors, draft up a list of questions to ask them to understand their approach and remit, and suitability to your company. For example, you might ask:

• How frequently can you perform tests?
• What is your pricing structure?
• How much automation do you provide?
• Does your scope cover APIs, mobile apps, and otherwise?
• How detailed are your reports?
• What support do you offer for remediation?
• Can you integrate with X system / process?
• Do you have any case studies and testimonials you can share with me (that are relevant to my situation)?
• Do you have, or can you build, proof-of-concept for our specific needs?
• Do you offer a trial period for us to evaluate your service?

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list – but it should give you some food for thought when approaching PTaaS vendors for the first time, and protect you against potentially poor fits.

Conclusion

PTaaS is a flexible, accessible, continuous penetration testing solution that can help spot and remediate cybersecurity issues faster and less intensively.

However, it’s not always the best fit for every business. Be sure to consider our points above, and if you’d like more advice on how to line up an effective penetration testing solution, reach out to the VikingCloud team ASAP.