60% of data breaches exploit known vulnerabilities that were not patched or remedied in a timely manner (Verizon DBIR 2024). Penetration testing—or “pentesting”—is the most effective way to uncover these weaknesses before an attacker finds them.
What is a penetration test?
A penetration test is a controlled simulation of a real attack against your systems, networks, or applications. A team of ethical hackers uses the same techniques, tools, and methodologies that a real attacker would use, but with authorization and without causing any damage.
The goal is to identify exploitable vulnerabilities, demonstrate their actual impact, and provide specific recommendations for addressing them.
Types of Penetration Testing
External Network Penetration Testing
Assess the attack surface visible from the Internet: servers, firewalls, VPNs, and exposed services. Simulate an attacker who does not have internal access.
Internal Network Penetration Testing
Simulates an attacker who already has access to the internal network (malicious employee, compromised credentials). Assesses lateral movement, privilege escalation, and access to sensitive data.
Web Penetration Testing (OWASP Top 10)
Evaluates web applications against the 10 most critical vulnerabilities according to OWASP: SQL injection, XSS, SSRF, IDOR, authentication issues, insecure deserialization, and more.
API Penetration Testing
APIs are the backbone of modern applications and one of the most frequently exploited attack vectors. They are assessed against the OWASP API Security Top 10.
Mobile Application Penetration Testing
Evaluates Android and iOS apps: insecure storage, unencrypted communications, vulnerable business logic.
Red Team
The most comprehensive simulation: a multidisciplinary team attacks your organization using every available technique—technical, physical, and social engineering—for weeks or months.
Methodologies and Frameworks
- OWASP Testing Guide: The Standard for Web and API Penetration Testing
- PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard): Comprehensive 7-phase framework
- MITRE ATT&CK: Mapping Attack Techniques for Red Team Assessments
- NIST SP 800-115: U.S. Government Technical Guide for Safety Testing
How often should you conduct penetration testing?
- Annual minimum: Required by PCI DSS, recommended by ISO 27001
- Quarterly: If you handle sensitive data or have mission-critical applications that are constantly being developed
- Following significant changes: Cloud migrations, new applications, mergers and acquisitions
- Continued: Bug bounty or pentesting-as-a-service programs for applications that change weekly