A Penetration Test — or “pen test” — is a security assessment that simulates a real cyberattack to identify vulnerabilities in your system before malicious actors do.

Penetration testers are cybersecurity experts who specialise in ethical hacking: they use the same techniques and tools as cybercriminals, but with the opposite goal — strengthening your defences, not tearing them down. Through simulated attacks on applications, networks, and infrastructure, they help your team uncover critical weaknesses and raise the overall level of security.

It is important to distinguish between ethical hacking and penetration testing: the former is a broader discipline encompassing all activities aimed at improving the security of a system, from malware analysis to risk assessment. The pen test is one of the tools it draws upon — perhaps the most effective for putting the robustness of your infrastructure to the test under real-world conditions.