What is penetration testing?
Penetration testing a trial run of a cyberattack performed by an authorized, trusted third party to gauge the security of a network or system. Where compliance audits uncover gaps, penetration testing provides real-world evidence by actually breaching a system. It’s an essential component of cybersecurity best practices.
Why is it important to conduct penetration testing continuously?
Penetration testing is not a one-and-done exercise. New hardware, new software, patches, and new connected devices all change the state of the network—and a changing network has new vulnerabilities. Hence the need to test continuously.
What is the primary goal of penetration testing?
Penetration testing goes beyond a theoretical understanding of vulnerabilities. In contrast, it provides concrete evidence in terms of real-world network breaches. There’s no substitute for it.
What’s the difference between penetration testing and vulnerability scanning?
Vulnerability scanning is conducted by a machine that’s trained to detect weaknesses in a network or system. A penetration test is researched, designed, and executed by human experts. It offers hard evidence of network vulnerabilities.
Can you conduct penetration testing yourself?
You can, but you should proceed carefully. If the same people who designed, implemented, and currently manage your network conduct pentesting, they may bring bias with them to the process. It’s not in their best interest to uncover vulnerabilities in their own work.
This is why it’s best to contract with a third party who specializes in penetration testing.