Penetration Testing
Computer Science: OCR GCSE, topic 1.4.2
Penetration Testing
Organisations need to be able to find security vulnerabilities before hackers do.
Penetration testing
- Penetration testing identifies vulnerabilities in a network's security by attempting a controlled attack on the network.
- This usually involves carrying out multiple types of attack to see which is most successful.
- Penetration testing is done by the organisation itself, or an external organisation or contractor they have hired.
Good penetration testing
- A good penetration test will check:
- Technical vulnerabilities.
- Likelihood of social engineering.
- A test of damage recovery.
Motivation for penetration tests
- Organisations choose to perform penetration testing to try to find vulnerabilities before criminals do.
- If an organisation can find and fix a bug before it is exploited, it can save time and money.
Test yourself on Penetration Testing
Who is responsible for performing penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities?
Why should an organisation perform penetration testing?
What are the components of a good penetration test?