How Does Penetration Testing Differ From Ethical Hacking?
Penetration Testing
5 MIN READ
September 15, 2020
Cybersecurity has been growing in leaps and bounds over the last few years. There are definite systems in place to prevent and protect systems from cyberattacks. This has added a layer of security for businesses and protected their infrastructure from potentially harmful attacks. Penetration testing and Ethical hacking are a part of this ever-changing landscape of cybersecurity.
What is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is a deliberate practice of testing the strength of networks, computer systems, web, or even mobile applications. It is a way to figure out the vulnerabilities in a system that might leave it susceptible to cyberattacks. Pen-tests are designed as a part of penetration testing services to check system resistance.
The penetration testing services purposely invade a system to learn how to better protect it. This way of protection might seem unconventional, but it can help improve the system to withhold cyberattacks. The best way to know what type of services are suitable for you, it is recommended you hire experts from penetration testing firms.
What is Ethical Hacking?
The term ‘hacking’ has a negative connotation to it, but that is not all it encompasses. Ethical hacking is a way of gaining access to a system in an unauthorized manner, to find out the exploitable glitches in the said system. One can hire people to test their cybersecurity by using experts in such fields.
The concept of ethical hacking services is new, but it means hiring an expert to figure out potentially problematic flaws in the system. By zoning in on the issues, ethical hacking services can find countermeasures for the safety of your system and infrastructure.
Ethical hacking vs Penetration testing: what’s the difference?
Ethical hacking and Penetration testing are terms that are used interchangeably. They are a part of the same hemisphere of cybersecurity, but they are not the same by a long shot. In a broader sense, ethical hacking is a part of penetration testing and vice versa; they share similarities; having said that, the differences also exist.
The access for penetration testing services is restricted to a specific system or a part of it where the pen-test method comes into play. There is a certain perimeter to consider, for example, external network tests, web application tests, internal and wireless tests. Ethical hacking goes beyond these perimeters of penetration testing and requires complete access to the IT infrastructure system as a whole to expose the vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking are two sides of the same coin but with minor differences. Although Penetration testing services and ethical hacking services under the same umbrella; their functions in cybersecurity vary. Hence, it is necessary to have awareness about cybersecurity services, and all it encompasses to make the right decisions about the kind of cybersecurity solutions you require.
An experienced technical Content Developer with in-depth knowledge of Salesforce, Big Data, Data Science, and other technologies! Tauheed focuses more on what readers want to read and crafts his content based on the same.
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One thought on “How Does Penetration Testing Differ From Ethical Hacking?”
There is no such blog that has given detail regarding how penetration testing is different from ethical hacking. And this blog is very well-written. Thanks
There is no such blog that has given detail regarding how penetration testing is different from ethical hacking. And this blog is very well-written. Thanks