What Is Penetration Testing?

An authorized, simulated cyberattack against a system performed to identify exploitable vulnerabilities before real attackers can find and use them.

Penetration Testing across 3 exams

Penetration Testing appears on the following exams. Each defines it in the context candidates are tested on:

Security+
An authorized, simulated cyberattack against a system performed to identify exploitable vulnerabilities before real attackers can find and use them.
CISSP
An authorized, simulated attack against a system used to identify and exploit vulnerabilities to assess real-world security risk.
CISA
An authorized, simulated attack against a system or network to actively exploit vulnerabilities and evaluate real-world exploitability and impact.