If you’re responsible for ensuring your organization’s compliance with any regulatory framework such as HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, or GDPR, you know that it can be a daunting task. When it comes to IT security, penetration testing is one of the best ways to ensure compliance. In this quick guide, we’ll provide an overview of penetration testing for compliance and outline the requirements of some of the most common regulatory frameworks.
What is penetration testing?
While performing penetration testing, a tester is responsible for finding security flaws in a system by simulating attacks on it. A penetration test can be used to help ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks such as HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and GDPR.
Who needs to perform pen tests for compliance?
Certain organisations, particularly those that handle sensitive customer data, must adhere to certain regulatory requirements. A few of them are:
- PCI-DSS for companies that process transaction data
- SOC 2 for service organisations
- ISO 27001 for any organisation requiring information security.
- GDPR for any company with EU customers
- HIPAA for healthcare institutions
However, just because you’re not in one of these industries doesn’t mean that penetration testing isn’t for you.
How can penetration testing help with ensuring compliance?
Penetration testing can be used in several ways to help ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks:
- To identify potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers
- To assess the effectiveness of security controls
- To verify the accuracy of vulnerability scans and other security assessments
- To provide evidence of due diligence for auditors
- It can help you to verify the effectiveness of your security controls
Penetration testing requirements for PCI DSS compliance
Depending on the number of transactions processed by a certain business, they would have to adhere to one of the four different levels under the PCI DSS compliance scheme. Level 1 being the higher level, is for companies handling more than 6,000,000 transactions per month. Level 4, being the lowest level, is for those with less than 20,000 transactions yearly. All PCI DSS levels require that merchants and service providers implement security controls to protect cardholder data. These controls include:
- 1 – Assign risks and rank them (e.g., ‘high,’”’medium,’ or ‘low’) for each vulnerability based on credible external sources.
- 2 – Install any necessary security patches to protect all software and system elements against known vulnerabilities.
- 6 – Ensure that your web applications are protected against new threats and flaws on a regular basis and that they are protected against known threats as much as possible.
- 3.1 and 11.3.2 – External penetration tests should be done once every year, at the least, and also after any significant infrastructure/application changes or upgrades.
- 3.3 – Any vulnerabilities discovered throughout the penetration tests must be addressed and additional testing must be done until the flaws have been fixed.
Penetration testing requirements for SOC 2 compliance
SOC 2 requires service organizations to implement controls to protect against five control issues, namely- security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
SOC 2 was designed with tech companies in mind that store and process sensitive data on the cloud.
When it comes to security testing, cloud applications and SOC 2 penetration testing is definitely one of the most effective tests you can do.
Since penetration testing is basically a simulation of attacks, you can carry out all web-related attacks on your cloud application such as DoS, SQL injection, XSS, etc.
Penetration testing requirements for ISO 27001 compliance
ISO 27001 compliance asks for specific actions to be taken while securing assets. Under risk management for ISO 27001, penetration tests are accepted as a validating activity provided they meet certain requirements.
Penetration testing requirements for GDPR compliance
GDPR exists to protect customer data of citizen’s falling under the EU. Penetration testing can help with GDPR compliance as it asks for regular testing as well as assessing the effectiveness of security measures under “Article 32”. These coincide with the goals achieved via penetration testing making it a perfect match for GDPR compliance.
Penetration testing requirements for HIPAA compliance
HIPAA requires covered entities to perform risk analysis which implies that you cannot overlook testing your security controls. Pen testing will help you to identify and assess the risks associated with your systems. The HIPAA Security Rule also requires you to implement security measures to protect against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of electronically protected health information (ePHI). Penetration testing can help you to verify the effectiveness of your security controls and ensure that they meet HIPAA requirements.
Conclusion
Penetration testing is an important part of ensuring compliance with a variety of regulatory frameworks. By identifying and assessing the risks associated with your systems, you can verify that your security controls are adequate and meet the specific requirements of each framework. Penetration testing can also provide evidence of due diligence for auditors. When it comes to compliance, it is always advisable to consult an expert pentesting company specialised in meeting compliance requirements.
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Author Bio: Ankit Pahuja is the Marketing Lead & Evangelist at Astra Security. Ever since his adulthood (literally, he was 20 years old), he began finding vulnerabilities in websites & network infrastructures. Starting his professional career as a software engineer at one of the unicorns enables him in bringing “engineering in marketing” to reality. Working actively in the cybersecurity space for more than 2 years makes him the perfect T-shaped marketing professional. Ankit is an avid speaker in the security space and has delivered various talks in top companies, early-age startups, and online events. You can connect with him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-pahuja/
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