Article: How Does a DDoS Risk Assessment Differ From a Penetration Test or Vulnerability Scan?

Cybersecurity is important to your business. However, the number of recommended tests to keep your company safe can be overwhelming. How can you know which tests are necessary and which are redundant?

A group of necessary tests that can seem redundant are penetration tests, vulnerability scans, and DDoS risk assessments. While the tests may seem similar, they serve different purposes and protect your company in different ways.

Vulnerability Scans & Penetration Tests

Vulnerability scans and penetration tests are the most commonly confused with each other. Vulnerability scans are usually automated tests run on a regular basis to assess known, baseline vulnerabilities in your system and report if anything has changed from the previous test.

Penetration tests are a bit more complex, cannot be automated, and need to be run by a specially trained cybersecurity professional. As a result, they are conducted less often - about once or twice per year. During the test, the cybersecurity professional will attempt to break into your environment and identify ways that hackers can gain access to your systems or sensitive data. This test is all about gaining special access.

DDoS Risk Assessments

Like penetration tests, DDoS risk assessments are an investigative approach in which a specially trained cybersecurity expert acts as a hacker to exploit and identify weaknesses. However, unlike penetration tests, a DDoS attack expertdoesn't attempt to gain special access to your environment or data.

DDoS attacks work by overloading your infrastructure and blocking traffic to your site or platform so that your customers or potential customers cannot access your services. So instead, a DDoS risk assessments attempts to identify areas of the environment that are susceptible to DDoS attacks. This may include architectural weaknesses, network bottlenecks, software design errors and similar areas.

A Doorway Analogy

A way to think about the difference between the three tests is by thinking about the analogy of a locked door.

• Testing the lock. Vulnerability tests are like walking up to a door and turning the handle to see if it is locked. A simple test to assess and report potential risk.
• Picking the Lock. Penetration tests are like a master locksmith using tools to open a locked door without the key. Some locks may be more challenging than others, and some locksmiths may have better tools than others.
• Blocking the doorway. A DDoS risk assessment is like identifying and testing methods of blocking entrance to your door. It could create a large crowd of people knocking on the door so that your guests - or you - can't get in even if they have a key.

You always want your home to be safe and accessible. These three tests help ensure you can do that.

How Your Platform Can Be Assessed

In uncertain economic times, your cybersecurity is more important than ever. DDoS attacks are on the rise and hackers often demand a ransom with the threat of attack. An unexpected cost like that could be devastating to your company.

Do you want to be sure your software "home" is secure, safe and accessible? Contact NimbusDDOS. Our industry-leading experts are ready to ensure you are confident in your cybersecurity precautions.