ProxyShell is a massive new exploit campaign that is targeting vulnerable Microsoft Exchange servers. The servers are publicly available and the campaign is directly responsible for a number of breaches and subsequent ransomware attacks. There have been thousands of compromised Exchange servers to date. Ransomware is simply the byproduct of unauthorized access and privilege escalation and typically has to start with something like ProxyShell providing an attacker remote access.

Often, penetration testing (or pen testing) and vulnerability scanning are used interchangeably. In doing so, the importance of each method of testing gets lost in the confusion. Both of these are significant in protecting your data and infrastructure for different reasons. In the age of digitally storing information and companies having an online network presence, it’s easy for hackers to find their way in. This is why both pen testing and vulnerability scanning are important.