Why do penetration tests pose risks to legacy systems?
By Emanuel Böminghaus, Legacy Systems Expert and Managing Director, AvenDATA
By Emanuel Böminghaus
Legacy Systems Expert and
Managing Director, AvenDATA
Managing Director, AvenDATA
In the wild, legacy systems are not afraid of wild animals. Their biggest threat hides somewhere else: the next penetration test. What begins as a routine security check is increasingly the final blow for aging systems.
With cyberattacks on the rise, companies run security checks more frequently. By about five years after the last major maintenance, things get critical. Java or .NET libraries are outdated, vendors no longer provide updates, or key components are simply no longer compatible.
Why many companies now run penetration tests weekly
In a digital world where new vulnerabilities are discovered and exploited every day, an annual security test is no longer enough. Many organizations especially those with critical infrastructure or heavy regulatory pressure now run weekly penetration tests or automated vulnerability scans. The goal is to spot exposed attack surfaces early and reduce risk immediately. For legacy systems, this cadence quickly becomes a stress test. What barely passed yesterday fails today, because outdated components turn into real security gaps on ever shorter timelines.
A Legacy System that fails the test is no longer acceptable.
At that point, there are three options and none of them are pleasant:
- Invest in costly and complex updates that are rarely worth it especially if the system is only being kept alive for documentation or compliance purposes.
- Ignore the test results and risk major security gaps that could quickly lead to legal or financial fallout in the event of a data breach or cyberattack.
- Archive the system properly ensuring secure, compliant, and audit ready access to your data at a fraction of the cost of continued operation.
Conclusion: Not Archiving is a Risk
Penetration tests often confirm what IT teams already suspect: legacy systems are vulnerable. If you don’t take action, you risk being held accountable for serious security breaches. In today’s environment of escalating cyber threats, archiving isn’t a “nice to have” it’s a critical part of modern IT security.
Planning to archive a legacy system?