As your SME grows, your systems, users, data, and cloud footprint expand quickly — and that can expose gaps that attackers look for. This guide explains why penetration testing becomes essential when scaling beyond the SME stage, and how to approach it safely and cost-effectively.
As SMEs scale, their digital footprint can expand faster than their security maturity. Thus, it makes penetration testing a critical investment, instead of being an optional cost. So, what exactly makes penetration testing critical for businesses to scale up from an SME? Let’s look into it here.
The scaling of an SME changes its threat landscape by expanding its digital footprint and attractiveness to potential attackers. This can lead to risks shifting from small issues (such as malware) to more targeted attacks and data theft.
Thus, at this moment, basic security stops being sufficient to meet the larger and more complicated threats from cyber criminals. This is made more of a challenge with increasing exposure due to a higher amount of data, users, and systems.
So, with this blog, let’s look into why penetration testing becomes essential for businesses when scaling from SMEs.
Scaling essentially expands the digital footprint of your business. This means your business has become more attractive to attackers. Thus, the risks to your business shift from simple and opportunistic malware to more sophisticated and targeted attacks. These include attacks such as ransomware, supply chain attacks, and data theft.
Essentially, business growth implies more entry points to your business. You’re taking up new systems, cloud services, and APIs. In many cases, you would also need to open up client portals, mobile apps, or SaaS tools.
In all of these cases, the open portals create more entry points for attackers, increasing the overall risk to your company. Thus, as your business scales, the cyber attack surface area increases.
So, to understand why businesses need to understand why it is important to invest in penetration testing when scaling, it is crucial to explore what it really does. So, let’s look into some important factors regarding penetration testing:
Before digging into what penetration actually does, let’s first understand, “What is penetration testing in cybersecurity?” It can be described as a simulated cyberattack on a computer system, application, or network. It is performed by ethical hackers, and they exploit the vulnerabilities before real attackers can.
This helps the system be prepared for any vulnerabilities at the start, helping prevent data breaches and meet basic compliance requirements. Testers use the same tools that the attackers would, strengthening the overall security posture. This is why penetration testing is important.
Penetration testing may seem like it is essentially a vulnerability scanning system. However, the penetration testing process differs from vulnerability scanning due to a few aspects. Here is a comparison chart to explore what penetration testing actually does and how it is beyond just vulnerability scanning:
| Factor | Vulnerability Scanning | Penetration Testing |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Identifying and listing possible vulnerabilities. | Demonstrating how vulnerabilities can be exploited. |
| Approach | Mostly automated. | Mostly manual. |
| Depth | Surface-level scanning. | Deep-dive. |
| Frequency | High frequency. | Annually, after major changes. |
| Result | A ranked list. | Proof of a successful breach. |
Table 1: Vulnerability Scanning vs. Penetration Testing
Thus, what penetration testing essentially does is simulate real-world attack scenarios to identify exploitable paths, and not just flaws. It also helps an expanding business understand its limitations and its potential scope.
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are considered prime targets during their scale-up phase because this period involves rapid digital acceleration and expansion. In such a situation, this expansion often outpaces the development of necessary security infrastructure.
That is why attackers view scaling SME’s as “low-hanging fruit”, or entities with high-value data and weak defenses. Furthermore, cyber attackers also target fast-growing businesses with limited in-house security expertise.
Most cyber attackers also assume that a growing SME has increased data value and is yet under the radar, making them prime targets for cybercrime. Ransomware attacks have targeted SMEs to an extent that has led to US$26,000 in damages and months of lost productivity.
Therefore, penetration testing for small businesses has become crucial to create a safe security environment for growing businesses.
Skipping penetration testing risks financial catastrophes, with average data breaches costing US$4.88 million, which far exceeds the cost of proactive and expert-driven assessments for security. Alternatively, in the UK, the US, and India, 72% of IT administrators have felt that choosing less expensive options would increase organisational risk.
This is because of certain realistic considerations, such as the impact of a cybersecurity breach at a business’s growth stage can be more than just basic financial losses. It can include:
Scaling a business in the UK needs balancing rigorous compliance requirements with elevated customer expectations. Here, key focus areas include adherence to:
Data Protection Act (GDPR): By the guidance of GDPR, companies need to ensure strict compliance with data storage systems, user consent for marketing purposes, and policies for data usage. Automated systems can manage this with the help of the secure storage of data, and only for necessary periods.
Corporate Governance: As firms start to grow, they need to adhere to the Companies Act, where they need to ensure the maintenance of accurate records and establish clear risk management processes. These steps are important for legal security and increasing investor trust.
Consumer Duty and Regulation: On this basis, growing companies need to implement the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Consumer Duty standards, requiring firms to act on delivering positive outcomes for retail customers, which includes reviewing customer journeys and simplifying terms.
The benefits of penetration testing include supporting these compliance needs.
SME Penetration testing can be effective in supporting safer scaling for smaller businesses. So, how does penetration testing create this environment for businesses to support safer scaling activities? It does this by:
Penetration testing helps build security into the growth steps for a small business. This can be attributed to the fact that the mock attack can be particularly skilled at identifying weaknesses before the business’s expansion.
This identification of weaknesses then leads to prioritising fixes based on real risks instead of going for a list of assumed generic challenges. This then supports secure launches of products and services, while ensuring that the potential customers are not at any risk. Thus, the overall benefit is that it improves the internal security awareness of growing businesses.
Essentially, small business penetration testing helps create a positive security landscape that leads to safe functions in the long run.
SMEs should conduct penetration testing at least once a year to ensure basic security and regulatory compliance. However, the testing frequency should be increased in case of significant changes. Changes such as new infrastructure, major software updates, or mergers can all of which can address emerging risks and vulnerabilities.
When do you need to raise the frequency for penetration testing? Some of the following members of this list can be key moments when penetration testing might be required:
In essence, scaling exponentially increases the cybersecurity risks for small businesses. Penetration testing can be effective in this case as it can smartly reveal real-world vulnerabilities. Also, security is essential to ensure compliance and trust for businesses. Thus, it is best to invest early in the growth cycle to prevent costly incidents.
If you are planning to grow your small business, you should schedule a penetration testing assessment. This can help you not only improve your current security posture but also help you update your security roadmap to scale with your business growth. So, start today!
Remedian supports SMEs across Greater Manchester and the North West with practical, business-friendly security improvements — from cyber security assessments to ongoing protection and IT support.
1. Is Penetration Testing Expensive for SMES?
Penetration testing can be expensive for SMEs, especially depending on the overall scope and complexity. However, it is also an important initial expense that can lead to cost benefits in the long run for a growing business.
2. Are Automated Tools Sufficient for Testing the Security Landscape of Small Businesses?
Automated tools are generally not sufficient on their own to test the complete security landscape for small businesses. Thus, for enhanced security reasons, a hybrid approach is required to combine automated scanning with manual testing.
3. Can Penetration Testing Disrupt a Business’s Operations?
Yes. Penetration testing can often disrupt business operations. Not in any major way, but unintended system crashes, services outages, or slowed network performance can be a risk to consider.
4. How Long Does a Penetration Test Typically Take?
A typical penetration test would usually take somewhere between two and four weeks. If the test is complex and has a larger scope, it requires a longer time to complete.
References (UK): UK GDPR guidance | FCA Consumer Duty | UK legislation (Companies Act)