Vulnerability Scanning or Penetration Testing [PPT]

Penetration testing has become an essential part of assessing and improving the security of an enterprise or organizations network. The goal of a penetration test is to assess the overall security of a network by attempting to compromise that system using an attackers techniques. Often time there is confusion about the difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test. A vulnerability scan identifies the problems which may have already occurred rather than evaluating against a real attack like penetration testing does.

Penetration testing is active, in that it is able to attack a system and measure its readiness. Vulnerability scanning, on the other hand, is passive. It does not address the implications of a successful intrusion and only lists what the potential vulnerabilities may be; without probing deeper to reveal the true threat to assets. A penetration test is an authorized attempt to breach the architecture of a system using attacker techniques.

The results delivered go beyond the data yielded by a vulnerability assessment. With a penetration test you actually exploit vulnerabilities in your network and try to replicate the kinds of access a hacker could achieve and can identify what resources are exposed and determine if your current security investments are detecting and preventing attacks.