You don’t have to perform penetration testing manually. In recent years, automated penetration testing has become increasingly popular. It leverages cybersecurity software to automatically identify vulnerabilities and threats in an information technology (IT) infrastructure. Automated penetration testing, however, has advantages and disadvantages. Before switching away from manual penetration testing, you should familiarize yourself with them.
Pro: Protects Against a Variety of Threats
You can rest assured knowing that automated penetration testing will protect your IT infrastructure from a variety of threats. Some of the different types of threats it can detect and neutralize include distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), weak passwords, SQL injection, header spoofing, phishing and more.
Pro: Accessible Online
There are automated penetration testing tools available online. They are typically offered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS). After subscribing to an online automated penetration testing tool, you can use it to scan your IT infrastructure. Like all automated penetration testing tools, it will work automatically to look for vulnerabilities and threats that could otherwise harm your IT infrastructure.
Pro: Fast and Easy
Of course, automated penetration testing is fast and easy. Whether you use an online or locally installed penetration testing tool, it will quickly scan your IT infrastructure for threats. And as the name suggests, automated penetration testing works automatically.
Con: May Not Catch All Threats
Automated penetration testing, on the other hand, may not catch all threats. While it can protect against a variety of threats, it doesn’t offer the same level of analysis as manual penetration testing. Manual penetration testing will allow you to perform a deeper level of analysis so that threats don’t go unnoticed.
Con: Compatibility Problems
Another potential disadvantage associated with automated penetration testing is compatibility problems. Some automated penetration testing tools may not be compatible with your operating system (OS) or other software. As a result, you won’t be able to use them. Manual penetration testing typically requires one or more testing tools as well. Nonetheless, compatibility problems are less likely to occur with manual penetration testing because it’s performed manually rather than automatically.
In Conclusion
Penetration testing can be classified as either automatic or manual depending on how it’s performed. Automatic penetration testing is performed automatically, whereas manual penetration testing is performed manually. Advantages of automatic penetration testing include the protection from a variety of threats and vulnerabilities, accessible online and it’s fast and easy. With that said, automatic penetration testing may not catch all threats, and it’s more likely to suffer from compatibility problems than manual penetration testing.