Penetration testing is a way of simulating an attack from a malicious source. A hacker has full knowledge of the system being attacked and can leverage this for simulation. The goal of a white-box penetration test is to simulate a malicious insider who has some knowledge and possibly basic credentials to the target system.

A penetration test is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system. The process involves an active analysis of the system for any potential vulnerabilities that could result from poor or improper system configuration. Any security issues that are found will be presented to the system owner with a assessment of their impact. The intent of a penetration test is to determine the feasibility of an attack and the amount of business impact of a successful exploit.