Even though technology professionals and seniority management are familiar with the terms Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing, sadly not many among the mentioned understand it with absolute clarity. Consequently, this article will clarify the differences between both, stating that both are integral components of a strong cybersecurity plan.
When it comes to the language of cybersecurity, the term vulnerability indicated a flaw in the system that can allow a hacker to disrupt the integrity of a program and in turn the network as well. These said flaws can be the result of a software error, weak passwords, various computer viruses, incorrect software management or injection of a malicious script.
The entire process of finding these vulnerabilities and measuring its severity in a system is called a Vulnerability Assessment. This assessment involves a comprehensive evaluation of security posture designed to discover weaknesses to expose exploits or attacks targeted at the business continuity and recommending appropriate amelioration to remove or reduce risk.
In comparison, Penetration testing a goal-oriented exercise.
Penetration Testing is focused on stimulating a real-life attack, testing defenses and mapping out paths an attacker would take to earn his monetary benefits. In simpler terms, a Penetration Test is about how an attacker is able to breach defenses for his benefits rather than uncovering any kind of vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing involves the use of automated vulnerability scanners and other manual pen test tools to discover vulnerabilities in web application and network infrastructure. It is more common in a penetration test to chain and exploit vulnerabilities; this can be a feature that can also be utilized by the vulnerability assessment as well. Contrariwise, not all penetration tools include elements of exploitation, at times demonstrating an attack could be enough.
The fundamental difference between the Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Test is, that the former is list-oriented and the latter is goal-oriented.
A penetration test is more effective when the target’s security maturity level is high, since it tests security defenses across a path with a certain goal, especially when the target’s defenses are believed to be strong. This states the fact that penetration testing is more suitable in situations where depth over breadth is preferred.
On the other hand, a vulnerability assessment is well suited in situations where the security issues are well known or when an organization that is believed to not be as matured when it comes to their security would like to make a start with fortifying its security. Alternatively, it can also be used by organizations with medium to high levels of security to maintain their security posture and it is especially effective when automated security testing is leveraged. Without evaluating specific attack goals or scenarios, vulnerability assessment focuses on providing the organizations with a list of weaknesses in their IT infrastructure that can be fixed. This makes Vulnerability assessment most suitable to situations where breadth over depth is preferred.
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