What Penetration Testing Actually Means

Starting from zero, on purpose

This lesson assumes you have never tested anything before. Not a website, not an app, nothing. If you already have some pentesting background, skim this quickly and move on. If you are completely new to security testing, read every line here, because the rest of this course leans on it constantly.

What a "penetration test" really is

A penetration test, usually shortened to pentest, is a simple idea dressed up in a technical-sounding name. A company builds an app. Before real customers trust it with their money or their medical records, the company hires someone to attack it first, on purpose, with permission, so any weaknesses get found and fixed before a criminal finds them instead.