Penetration Testing
In plain terms
Authorized simulated attacks to find security weaknesses.
Going deeper
Penetration testing has experts attempt to breach systems like real attackers would, revealing exploitable vulnerabilities before adversaries do. Findings drive fixes.
Under the hood
Scoped and authorized; ranges from black-box to white-box, complementing automated scanning.
Examples
Security audits, red teaming, vulnerability discovery, compliance testing.
Think of it like...
Like hiring a burglar to test your home's defenses and report the weak spots.