Penetration Testing Compliance: Easy-to-Follow Guide

In 2024, around 1,636 cyberattacks occurred weekly, marking a 30% increase since 2023. 

The primary goal of these attacks is to steal data—customer personal information, credit card information, necessary credentials, and intellectual property. The company and its clients are at risk. 

Surprisingly, most of these hacks occur by exploiting known vulnerabilities—the absence of adequate security measures and error in judgment. Hence, every industry involving sensitive data has certain security regulations, and many require penetration testing compliance.

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration Testing refers to simulating an attack on the target system, impersonating hacker-like behavior, and exposing and exploiting vulnerabilities in a website or network. 

Security engineers learn firsthand how hackers can exploit the system, flag loopholes, and formulate mitigation strategies to fix them.

What is Penetration Testing Compliance?

Penetration testing compliance refers to conducting pentests to achieve compliance with a specific regulatory body. Once your systems are pretested, the security experts prepare the pentest report. 

This report documents the vulnerabilities and remediation steps. After fixing the vulnerabilities, a rescan is performed to verify that all the loopholes are closed and your system is protected.

Why is Astra Vulnerability Scanner the Best Scanner?

• We’re the only company that combines automated & manual pentest to create a one-of-a-kind pentest platform.
• Vetted scans ensure zero false positives.
• Our intelligent vulnerability scanner emulates hacker behavior & evolves with every pentest.
• Astra’s scanner helps you shift left by integrating with your CI/CD.
• Our platform helps you uncover, manage & fix vulnerabilities in one place.
• Trusted by the brands you trust like Agora, Spicejet, Muthoot, Dream11, etc.

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Who Needs Penetration Testing Compliance?

Some industries, especially those dealing with sensitive customer data, require Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing as a rule under their compliance regulatory framework. Some industry-wise specifications are:

• PCI-DSS for companies that process card payments online. 
• RBI-ISMS for banks and other financial institutions,
• SOC 2 for service organizations.
• ISO 27001 for organizations looking to improve data security.
• HIPAA for healthcare institutions.

HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HIPAA, a federal law from 1996, focused on creating national standards for protecting patients’ data from being shared without their consent. 

Does HIPAA Require Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing?

No, not on paper. However, it does require the complying entities to analyze risk which effectively translates to testing the security controls. VAPT is one of the most surefire ways of conducting this test. So, it’s safe to say that penetration testing is necessary to gather adequate evidence to comply with HIPAA.

Need for HIPAA

Healthcare institutions are common targets for hackers because of the staff’s unpreparedness for a cyber attack, lack of awareness, legacy systems, low-security budget, and high value for patient data in the black market. Healthcare facilities are vulnerable to ransomware attacks, where hackers block access to patient data until a certain ransom is paid. While healthcare facilities are not essentially technology firms, they handle more data than one can imagine. 

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PCI-DSS: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

The name is relatively self-explanatory. PCI-DSS compliance scheme was formed in 2004 to secure credit and debit card transactions from data theft and fraud. This standard is governed by the Payment Card Industry – Security Standard Council (PCI-SSC).

Does PCI-SSC Demand Compliance?

While the PCI-SSC does not technically demand compliance, it is pretty much written in stone that every company processing credit card and debit card transactions should achieve PCI-DSS compliance. Not only does it help a company protect its data, but it also helps secure a trusting relationship with customers.

What are PCI-DSS’ Requirements for Compliance? 

The PCI DSS compliance scheme is divided into four levels based on the number of real-world credit and debit card transactions an organization handles. 

Level 1 is for companies with more than six million transactions, while level 4 is for companies with less than twenty thousand transactions. A PCI scan is required at all levels, while level one companies need internal audits and a scan conducted by an Approved Scan Vendor.

PCI certification requires you to use a firewall, encrypt transcription, and install antivirus. However, you are also required to qualify for the audits and scans. You must take recourse to penetration testing to ensure zero security loopholes, while the rule one paper does not mandate it directly.

RBI-ISMS: Reserve Bank of India – Information Security Management System

It is nearly impossible to imagine the Indian banking industry as a single unified entity—it has fully networked and computerized private banks and foreign banks at one end of the spectrum and rural public sector banks (PSB) with scant computerization at the other. 

Nevertheless, RBI has compiled comprehensive and exhaustive checklists for banks and NBFCs from all sectors. 

Need for Information Security Audits by RBI-ISMS

Information Security Audits are designed to test even the most minor assets for security loopholes. For the safety of their data, customer data, and funds, financial institutes should undergo penetration testing to ensure compliance with RBI-ISMS.

SOC 2: Service Organization Control 2

Security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy are the five organizational control pain points that the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) established the SOC 2 to govern.

Need for SOC 2 Compliance

Technology organizations that keep client data in the cloud are encouraged to use the SOC 2 compliance standard. This standard covers almost all SaaS businesses. Complying with SOC 2 involves monitoring network assets, regular audits, setting up anomaly alerts, and actionable forensics.

Penetration testing compliance strongly emphasizes vulnerability assessment and auditing, making it an essential SOC 2 compliance methodology component.

Does SOC 2 Compliance Need Penetration Testing?

SOC 2 compliance does not directly dictate that penetration testing must be used. With that said, it is still highly recommended as part of best security practices to show that the implemented security controls work. In most cases, this turns into a standard for auditors to guarantee compliance with the Trust Services Criteria.

ISO 27001: International Organization for Standards 27001

ISO 27001 compliance aims to create a framework for protecting information and sensitive data. It includes all legal, technical, and physical aspects of an organization’s information security management process. 

ISO 27001 is an umbrella that covers areas ranging from human resources security to business continuity management. It is placed to monitor, maintain, and improve information security management systems.

Is Penetration Testing Required for ISO 27001 Compliance?

Annual penetration testing is required to comply with ISO 27001 as it allows organizations to test their security posture against an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Benefits of Penetration Testing Compliance

Penetration testing compliance benefits organizations by discovering gaps in their security system and enabling them to protect their assets from cybercrime. 

Optimized Security

The digital environment is constantly evolving, and new threats emerge every day. Regular penetration testing helps the organization identify and patch weaknesses before hackers exploit them.

Eliminate Misconfigurations & Vulnerable Components

Your system’s inaccuracies, combined with outdated or vulnerable networks, make you more prone to cyberattacks. Only penetration testing compliance can help identify and strengthen these weak areas. 

Prepare for Security Audits

Several industries are legally obliged to conduct security audits and pentests due to the requirements of the compliance regulations they need to meet, such as in the healthcare and finance industries. Penetration testing compliance benefits organizations by making them ready for audits and helps avoid non-compliance fines.

How Can Astra Security Help You With Compliance?

Astra Security’s VAPT services can help you find and resolve vulnerabilities preventing you from achieving compliance. We combine automated vulnerability scanning with pentesting to identify over 10,000 vulnerabilities across web apps, mobile apps, cloud infrastructures, APIs, and networks. 

Once automated vulnerability scanning is complete, our security experts vet the scan results manually to ensure zero false positives. 

We adhere to industry standards like OWASP and SANS25, and our VAPT reports can be customized to provide dedicated compliance reporting and highlight vulnerabilities that map directly to relevant compliance regulation requirements. 

CERT-In impanels Astra Security to provide information security auditing services. The solution can also help you certify for ISO 27001.

Final Thoughts

With the constantly evolving cyber threat landscape and the increasing fear around security breaches, penetration testing gives you an accurate picture of your organization’s security posture. That is why penetration testing compliance is so important for many security regulations. 

Not only does penetration testing assist in achieving these compliance standards, but it also enhances an organization’s security position, reduces risks, and reassures clients in the growing threatful cyberspace. 

Successful vulnerability remediation goes beyond ensuring compliance – it builds trust inside and among your clients.

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