Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing Primer

Penetration testing, or pentesting (not to be confused with testing ballpoint or fountain pens), involves simulating real attacks to assess the risk associated with potential security breaches. On a pentest (as opposed to a vulnerability assessment), the testers not only discover vulnerabilities that could be used by attackers but also exploit vulnerabilities, where possible, to assess what attackers might gain after a successful exploitation.

From time to time, a news story breaks about a major company being hit by a cyberattack. More often than not, the attackers didn’t use the latest and greatest zero-day (a vulnerability unpatched by the software publishers). Major companies with sizable security budgets fall victim ...