Nearly every month you will see new cyber scare headlines, which may lead you to believe that most breaches happen in the US. The recent figures bear that out. The U.S. accounts for the vast majority of overwhelming data breaches some being absolutely vast, for example, Target, Home Depot, and JP Morgan Chase just to spell a few.

Cyberattacks have permeated different levels of business and they have become a scary reality to both small business and big corporations. Regardless of the size of your business, you cannot ignore the looming threat of hackers who are on a mission to steal important information.

As the frequency of data breaches and cyberattacks increases, you will need a plan to counterattack them. This means that you and your employees have to be well prepared to protect your business from hackers. One way to do so is by having qualified employees. Cyberseek.org recommends that you should have penetration testers that can help protect your business by identifying and mitigating network weaknesses.

Certify your Employees with the New CompTIA PenTest+

The CompTIA PenTest+ is CompTIA’s newest IT certification that integrates the necessary skills and knowledge needed to run a successful network penetration-testing program. This certification will test your employees in five key areas, including:

• Planning and scoping
• Penetration testing
• Gathering data and identification of vulnerabilities
• Reporting and communication
• Attacks and exploits

Benefits of CompTIA PenTest+ Certification

It covers more than technical skills: The CompTIA PenTest+ certification will match your business needs by covering both technical and soft skills such as project flow, business processes, professionalism, and best practices in network penetration testing.

It enhances teamwork: cybersecurity is affecting all levels of business. However, very few cybersecurity experts can help defend your IT systems on their own. The recent IT skills gap assessment conducted by CompTIA indicated that 96 percent of IT employees lack the needed skills including logical thinking, problem solving, and analysis. It has also become more challenging and expensive to hire new cybersecurity experts. CompTIA PenTest+ certified employees can be a great asset to your business because they are able to think like hackers and they can anticipate vulnerabilities.

It is tailored to meet your business demands: The CompTIA PenTest+ will equip your employees with vulnerability assessment and managerial skills. Additionally, your employees will be properly equipped with pen tester skills. These skills will be essential to employees who are in charge of securing your business systems as it clearly points out how attack vectors can be used by hackers.

Sobering Facts for a Digital World

Although most data breach headlines are about big corporations, small and medium enterprises also face similar financial reputational risks from cyberattacks. In fact, in a recent survey by Bitdefender, ransomware, a malicious software that enables cybercriminals to hold data affected one in five small and medium enterprises over a span of one year. Malicious software and hacking of sensitive client data can hobble your business and expose it to government fines, customer lawsuits, bad publicity, and expensive IT repair costs.

Most business owners are aware of the importance of protecting their businesses from hackers but are unable to get the right talent to secure their systems due to the massive cybersecurity skills shortage. Due to this shortage, the government cybersecurity experts have recommended that businesses invest in training their employees. The CompTIA PenTest+ certification will enable your IT team to take the necessary steps to mitigate the likelihood of your business falling victim to data breaches.

How CompTIA PenTest+ Certified Employees can protect your Business

Due to advancement in technology, the IT environment has become more complex and vulnerable, and the responsibilities of IT experts have expanded over time. However, the CompTIA PenTest+ certification will enable your IT employees to protect your business by:

Regular reporting – In case of a security flaw on the IT infrastructure, your IT team should accurately report such cases regardless of how minor they may seem. Such an open approach will help in the prevention, detection, identification, and investigation of breaches when they occur.

Using the right tools – Legacy data security systems that use firewalls and IPS/IDS provide insufficient protection which means you can’t rely on them to safeguard your business data. According to Forrester, perimeter-based solutions are now outdated. Your certified employees will implement encryption solutions that will guard against unauthorized data access.

Provide employee education – Your trained IT employees will help educate other employees on security issues such as phishing and malware, and help them to adopt the best security practices. Training your IT employees is meaningless if they don’t share their knowledge with other employees.

Better protection of your organization from outside hacking should begin from the inside. The CompTIA PenTest+ will equip your IT team with cybersecurity skills that can help bridge the skills gap. For more information, visit Infotec today.

For more information about Infotec or any of our programs click here: http://www.infotectraining.com/ or https://ops.infotecpro.com/course_schedule/course_schedule.cfm.