Choosing an external vendor to head up your business security strategy can be a difficult choice for many companies, especially those with limited budgets looking for value and a penetration testing company they can trust. Check out these top tips for choosing an IT security service for your business…

Understand penetration testing

In this area of expertise, it is all too easy to be swept away by the jargon that prospective IT security vendor may throw at you in an attempt to gain business. Being clued up on the basics of penetration testing and other online security scanning techniques is an essential step in sorting the wheat from the chaff when searching for a vendor that suits you.

In addition to this, opting for a qualified company that isn’t afraid to put these processes in layman’s terms is also highly recommended. Understanding IT security will also give you the opportunity to confidently grill prospective vendors about the services they offer and what they can offer your business.

Define your objectives

With an understanding of penetration testing, also comes the realisation of what you want to achieve for your business via recruiting a professional security service. Whilst penetration testing is ultimately about protecting your company website from cyber attack and closing loopholes and vulnerabilities that hackers may exploit to access your site and its data, you must define the goals that you wish to achieve as a result from the very beginning.

Review each company’s credentials

Finding a security expert that you can really trust to take your business and its security to the very next level is of optimum importance, in fact a bad decision can leave your infrastructure and data more vulnerable than when you started. Look for a vendor with a proven track record and delve a little deeper into the background of the company and the skillset of its employees. Look online and follow up customer testimonials to gain an insight into the organisation first-hand.

Keep it brief

Requesting a brief from each company you approach on where your business needs security and what benefits you can look forward to should you go ahead with this particular service should form part of your final decision. In most circumstances, the more detail that the vendor goes into in their brief, the more comprehensive their service is likely to be.

Looking to the end-result can be a key indicator of a vendor’s professionalism, ask each prospective service what you can expect after each penetration testing and enquire about how results will be delivered, evaluated and communicated. All good penetration testing services comply a report to detail the key findings and any follow-up advice you should take on in-house. A vendor who makes attention to detail a high priority is sure to be a great candidate!