Difference Between Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing

Vulnerability assessment identifies the specific weaknesses and provides tactical solutions to fix them. Penetration testing analyzes the robustness of a system or application and evaluates the security aspects. The security system is improved and a more integrated security program is developed through the platform of vulnerability assessment. Pen testing provides clarity on the overall security effectiveness of a particular system or application. In this article, you will get to know the differences between vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

What is a Vulnerability assessment?

It is the process of assessing and detecting vulnerabilities in your devices, network, application and website. An automated vulnerability scanner is used throughout the system and is scanned for common exposures and vulnerabilities by referencing a vulnerability database. 

The strategic need to perform vulnerability assessment:

In most scenarios, internet-based businesses require the need to conduct frequent vulnerability assessments. When a small e-commerce start-up or a large-scale SaaS business is focused to capitalize on the goodness of data, then vulnerability scanning should be carried out regularly. It becomes essential, especially when an organization wants to function under certain security regulations like SOC2, HIPAA or PCI-DSS.

Following are a few key points that depict the significance of vulnerability assessment:

• Common vulnerabilities in the system should be detected

• The network assets should be bolstered against cyber attacks

• Industry-relevant security regulations can be used for attaining compliance

• The data needs to be protected and trust needs to be built among customers.

What is Penetration testing?

It is a testing method wherein an attack is simulated against a system to find security weaknesses and fix them. Security testers conduct this activity where specific hacker-like tactics are employed by the security tester in order to find ways to explore your system or application and cause considerable damage. Organizations must have a sizeable security budget to carry out penetration testing productively and rewardingly. 

The strategic need to perform penetration testing:

Those organizations that deal with a lot of lucrative and business relevant data and/or have complex applications can go for applying penetration testing. Those businesses that have strong security features and are also interested to remove potential pitfalls and loopholes can also implement this testing method. 

Following are a few key points that depict the significance of penetration testing:

• A proper strategic roadmap is provided to remediate vulnerabilities

• Zero false positives 

• The organization gets clarity in understanding the security posture and infrastructure along with business logic errors

• Security experts provide the required remediation support

• A publicly verifiable pen testing certificate is also provided to attain credibility.

Differences between vulnerability assessment and penetration testing:

Vulnerability assessment	Penetration testing
It is focused on categorizing and detecting vulnerabilities in a system or application	Vulnerabilities are exploited so that specific insight can be drawn
Zero false positives cannot be easily attained with an automated vulnerability assessment	This testing method ensures zero false positives
Crucial and complex vulnerabilities are often missed	All the business logic errors that were not detected in a vulnerability scan are detected by penetration testing
Significantly less amount of cost and time is required to conduct vulnerability assessment when compared to penetration testing	It is a time consuming and quite expensive process, but the results are outstanding
Automated process plays an important role and vulnerability scanning tools are used to carry out the assessment activities	Both automated processes and manual intervention are used as and when required
Quantifiable value and significance are allocated to the available resources	Targeted information is gathered and/or the system is Inspected

 

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing vulnerability assessment or penetration testing or both for your specific project, then do get connected with a world class software testing service company that will provide you with a methodical testing blueprint that is in line with your project specific requirements.

About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.