What is Penetration Testing?
1 min read
Updated 2026-02-05
An authorized simulated attack on a system to evaluate its security. Penetration testers (pentesters) attempt to exploit vulnerabilities to assess risk.
Understanding Penetration Testing
Penetration testing goes beyond automated scanning by using human creativity to chain vulnerabilities and find complex attack paths. Types include black box (no prior knowledge), white box (full access), and gray box (partial knowledge). It typically includes reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, exploitation, and reporting.
Examples
- Testing web application security by attempting common attacks
- Trying to bypass authentication mechanisms
- Attempting to escalate privileges after initial access
- Social engineering tests (phishing simulations)
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