1. What is penetration testing and why is it important for organizations?
Penetration testing (ethical hacking) is a simulated cyber attack that helps identify vulnerabilities in systems, applications, and networks before malicious actors can exploit them. It provides a realistic view of an organization’s cyber resilience and helps meet regulatory and compliance requirements while improving security posture. Penetration testing combines automated testing with manual checks to ensure efficient vulnerability detection.
2. What types of penetration testing does Deloitte offer?
Deloitte provides a wide range of penetration testing services, including:
3. How is a penetration test different from a vulnerability assessment?
A vulnerability assessment identifies known weaknesses in systems through automated scanning. Penetration testing, on the other hand, involves expert-driven exploitation to validate and understand the real-world impact of those vulnerabilities — providing deeper insight into potential attack paths and business risks.
4. How does Red Teaming or TLPT (TIBER EU) testing differ from traditional penetration testing?
Red Teaming and TLPT go beyond standard testing by simulating real-world attack scenarios targeting people, processes, and technology. These engagements test an organization’s detection and response capabilities, not just its technical defenses, in alignment with TIBER EU or DORA TLPT frameworks. Lastly, while a penetration test typically focuses on a specific system, red teaming typically has a wide scope and may include various types of test activities and chaining attacks to achieve goals attackers may have.
5. What is SAP penetration testing and why is it critical?
SAP systems often manage an organization’s most sensitive business data. Deloitte’s SAP penetration testing evaluates security configurations, authorization structures, and custom ABAP code to uncover vulnerabilities. It helps prevent data breaches, fraud, and service disruptions in critical business operations.
6. How is penetration testing conducted for automotive and IoT systems?
Automotive penetration testing includes ECU level (hardware, firmware and interface), function level, in vehicle networks (e.g., CAN, Ethernet, Flexray), and vehicle level penetration testing. It also includes testing the whole connected ecosystem (e.g., backends, web/mobile/API applications) of a modern vehicle. These tests ensure compliance (e.g., UN ECE R155, ISO/SAE 21434), and resilience.
For IoT and hardware, assessments cover hardware, firmware, interfaces, and the connected ecosystem of the given device to detect exploitable flaws.
7. How often should penetration testing be performed?
Penetration testing should be conducted at least annually, or after any major infrastructure or application change. Regular testing ensures new vulnerabilities introduced through updates, integrations, or configuration changes are identified and mitigated promptly.
