Penetration testing vs Vulnerability Scanning: A Comparative Study

Penetration testing seeks to exploit a security gap, while vulnerability scanning checks for known exposures and generates a report that can be used for risk mitigation.

Searching and Scanning Security Breaches

One of the most important parts of a solid security involves testing to see whether your system has weaknesses or not. Continual improvement requires continual review. However, it’s some sort of confusing thing that the importance of vulnerability scanning with penetration testing. As a means of protecting an enterprise, both are equally important, and in some cases, they are suggested to be effective.

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing, or pen testing, is a threat assessment strategy by simulating real attacks to evaluate the risks with potential security breaches. It is a simulated cyberattack against your computer system to discover potential vulnerabilities that could hamper the security of your system.

It is also called ethical hacking that exploits vulnerabilities against an organization’s security infrastructure.

What is Vulnerability Scan?

Vulnerability scan is an approach to identifying risks and vulnerabilities in computer systems, network devices, hardware, and applications. It is the process of reviewing, classifying, and prioritizing vulnerabilities in a system before hackers exploit them. E-commerce today is highly relied on information technology including the cloud computing that also increases the risk of getting exploited by potential hackers.

Difference between Penetration Test and Vulnerability Scan

1. Strategy: While both pen testing and vulnerability assessment come under the threat assessment category; there are subtle differences between the two. Vulnerability assessment checks for known weaknesses in a system and generates a report on risk exposure, whereas pen testing is meant to exploit weaknesses on a system or an entire IT infrastructure to uncover any threats to the system.

2. Scope: The scope of pen testing is targeted and there is also a human factor involved. Pen testing not only involves discovering vulnerabilities that could be used by attackers but also exploiting those vulnerabilities to assess what attackers can exploit after a breach. So, vulnerability assessment is one of the essential prerequisites for doing a pen test. Unless you’re familiar with the weaknesses in a target system, you are not able to exploit them.

3. Approach: A vulnerability assessment, as the name suggests, is a process that scans computer systems and network devices for security weaknesses. It is an automated process performed with the help of automated tools to scan for new and existing threats that can harm your system. Pen testing, on the other hand, requires a well-planned, methodological approach and is performed by experienced individuals who understand all the facets of security posture.

Which is better solution?

Pen testing involves more rigorous assessment and scanning of systems – it is a controlled form of hacking performed in a controlled environment to avoid causing damage to the target system. Vulnerability scans are often safe to perform and are executed using automated tools. Pen testing, however, has its own set of risks.

Why is a penetration test considered to be more thorough than a vulnerability scan?

Pen testing is one of the most effective ways to identify weaknesses in a system. It is meant to assess the feasibility of systems against potential threats or breaches. It is carried out in a more controlled environment by experienced hackers.

Does penetration test necessary why or why not?

A penetration test seeks to identify potential vulnerabilities in a system before an attacker does, and recommends how to fix those issues and avoid future vulnerabilities. The scope of a pen test varies from system to system or client to client. It verifies the ability of a system to protect itself from malicious attacks.

Is penetration testing effective?

Penetration testing is very effective as it simulates real attacks to evaluate the risks associated with potential security breaches. It is intended to identify weaknesses in security infrastructure.

Conclusion

Vulnerability assessment is a cost-effective that serves its purpose of identifying low-hanging weaknesses in a system posture. It is a low-risk threat assessment approach to identifying known weaknesses in a system and generating a report on risk exposure. Penetration testing, on the other hand, is a methodological approach that involves rigorous assessment to exploit weaknesses on a system or an entire IT infrastructure. Pen testing is a controlled form of hacking that simulates real attacks to evaluate the risks associated with potential security breaches.

Compiled by: Azizul maqsud

References:

https://lnkd.in/dBj3BgSn

https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/difference-vulnerability-scanning-penetration-testing#:~:text=Penetration%20testing%20seeks%20to%20exploit,be%20used%20for%20risk%20mitigation.