Penetration testing, also known as pen testing, is the process of simulating a cyber attack on a company’s network, system, and application to find vulnerabilities and mitigate the chances of security breaches by patching any gaps.
It is a crucial cybersecurity technique used by cybersecurity experts to identify and expose any database vulnerabilities and security flaws that professional cyber hackers could easily exploit. Ethical hackers, or pen testers, perform various tests to find weak spots in a system and its security before any hacker with malicious intentions can find them.
Generally, a person with no prior knowledge or experience of system security performs these tests as it allows testers to find vulnerabilities that might be overlooked. They use manual and automated testing techniques to test wireless networks, mobile devices, web applications, servers, and other exposure points.