You've just completed a penetration test, or pentest, for your small business. Congratulations! You've taken a proactive step to improve your cybersecurity and compliance. But don't celebrate too soon. The pentest is only the first step. The next and more important step is remediation, which means fixing the vulnerabilities that the pentest uncovered.

Remediation is not a trivial task. It requires careful planning, coordination, and execution. It also requires a sense of urgency, as the longer you leave the vulnerabilities unfixed, the more exposed you are to potential attacks. In this blog post, we will share some best practices and tips on how to perform effective remediation after a pentest.

Why Remediation Matters for Small Businesses

You might think that remediation is only for large enterprises or government agencies, but that's not true. Small businesses are also at risk of cyberattacks, and in some cases, even more so. According to a report by IBM, small businesses account for 28% of the data breaches in 2020, and the average cost of a breach for them is $3.86 million. That's a lot of money that could be better spent on growing your business, rather than recovering from a cyberattack.

Remediation can help small businesses to:

• Protect their systems, data, and assets from hackers.
• Comply with industry standards and regulations, such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, or GDPR.
• Enhance their reputation and trust with customers and partners.
• Reduce the likelihood and impact of a data breach or cyberattack.

How to Perform Remediation after a Pentest

Before you start the remediation process, you need to have a clear and comprehensive penetration test report that details the findings and recommendations of the pentest. The pentest report should include the following information:

• An executive summary that highlights the main findings, risks, and recommendations
• A technical summary that details the methodology, tools, and results of the pentest
• A list of vulnerabilities, ranked by severity and impact, with evidence and screenshots
• A list of recommendations, with remediation steps and best practices
• A list of limitations, assumptions, and caveats of the pentest

Once you have the penetration test report, you can follow these steps to perform remediation:

Prioritize the vulnerabilities.

You need to prioritize the vulnerabilities based on their severity and impact, and decide which ones to address first. A common way to do this is to use the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) framework, which assigns a score from 0 to 10 to each vulnerability, based on various factors such as exploitability, impact, and remediation level. Generally, vulnerabilities with a score of 7 or higher are considered high-risk and should be fixed as soon as possible.

Assign the responsibilities.

You need to assign the responsibilities for fixing the vulnerabilities to the relevant parties, such as developers, IT staff, or third-party vendors. You should also communicate the goals, scope, timeline, and expected outcomes of the remediation, as well as the roles and responsibilities of each party. You should also get their consent and cooperation for the remediation, especially if the remediation involves sensitive or critical systems or data.

Implement the recommendations.

You need to implement the recommendations from the penetration test report to fix the vulnerabilities. You should follow the remediation steps and best practices suggested by the pentester or consult with them if you have any questions or doubts. You should also document and record the changes and improvements that you make to the system.

Verify and validate the remediation.

You need to verify and validate that the remediation has been successful and that the vulnerabilities have been resolved. You can do this by performing a retest or a follow-up penetration test to confirm that the system is secure and compliant. You should also update your documentation and records to reflect the current state of the system.

Conclusion

Remediation is a vital and valuable practice for small businesses to improve their cybersecurity and compliance. However, remediation is not a simple or straightforward process, and it requires proper planning and execution to ensure its effectiveness and success.

One of the most important factors for successful remediation is having a clear and comprehensive penetration test report that details the findings and recommendations of the pentest. The pentest report should guide you through the remediation process, which consists of four steps: prioritizing the vulnerabilities, assigning the responsibilities, implementing the recommendations, and verifying and validating the remediation.

By following these steps, you can perform effective remediation after a penetration test, and secure your system and business. If you need help with pentesting or remediation, please contact us today. We are a trusted and experienced penetration test provider that can help you identify and fix the flaws in your system and achieve your business goals.