Page 107 - Cyber Defense eMagazine for September 2020

Manual vs. Automatic Cybersecurity Testing: What's the

Difference?

By Tamir Shriki, Customer Operations Manager, XM Cyber

In the context of cybersecurity, if you want to protect something, you need the ability to test its defenses.
It's the only way to maintain visibility into the true state of your security posture.

The key question, however, is this: How does one get the best and most comprehensive test results?
Poor testing may offer little more protection than no testing at all.

For most organizations, it boils down to two choices: Manual tests and automated tests. The former are
conducted by people, and the latter by machines. Both have their relative strengths, and both can work
together to create a sum that is greater than its individual parts.

How Manual and Automated Tests Differ

Manual security tests often take the form of red team exercises or penetration tests. Let's take a closer
look at these two concepts:

● Penetration tests are designed to uncover any and all vulnerabilities and configuration issues
within a computer system. While a vulnerability test or assessment simply identifies security
gaps, penetration tests go a step further and exploit these newfound vulnerabilities to discover

Cyber Defense eMagazine – September 2020 Edition 107
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