What is Penetration Testing? - Explanation & Meaning
Learn what penetration testing (pentesting) is, how ethical hacking works, and why pen tests are essential for uncovering vulnerabilities in your systems.
Definition
Penetration testing (pentesting) is a controlled cyber attack on a system, network, or application, performed by security experts to identify vulnerabilities before malicious hackers do. It is an essential component of a proactive security strategy.
Technical explanation
Pentesting typically follows a structured methodology: reconnaissance (gathering information), scanning (identifying vulnerabilities), exploitation (exploiting weaknesses), post-exploitation (determining impact), and reporting. There are three main types: black-box (no prior knowledge), white-box (full access to source code), and grey-box (partial knowledge). The OWASP Testing Guide provides a comprehensive framework for testing web applications, covering the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS, and broken authentication. Automated tools like Burp Suite, Metasploit, and Nmap are combined with manual techniques for in-depth analysis. Network pentesting targets infrastructure, while application pentesting focuses on business logic and API vulnerabilities. Social engineering tests assess the human factor. After the test, the client receives a report with discovered vulnerabilities, risk assessments, and concrete remediation recommendations.
How MG Software applies this
MG Software regularly performs penetration tests on the applications we develop, both during and after the development process. We combine automated SAST/DAST scans in our CI/CD pipeline with periodic manual pen tests. For our clients, we offer security reviews where we test their applications against the OWASP Top 10 and specific business risks. Discovered vulnerabilities are immediately remediated and validated.
Practical examples
- A bank conducting an annual pen test on its online banking platform, where testers discover a vulnerable API endpoint that could expose customer data, which is then immediately patched.
- A SaaS company undergoing a comprehensive white-box pen test on their entire application stack, including APIs, web interface, and mobile app, as part of SOC 2 certification.
- A government agency organizing a red team exercise where ethical hackers attempt to breach the network through social engineering, phishing, and technical exploits.
Related terms
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