The term "penetration testing" often crosses our mind, but many times we let it go by thinking about its literal meaning. People who are a little curious think about it again, because “what is it?” and “is it really necessary?” So we are here to shed light on it and its benefits. So what is it all about? Talking about a definition, Wiki explains: “A penetration test, or the short form pentest, is an attack on a computer system with the intention of identifying security weaknesses, potentially gaining access to it, its features and to its data.” So, speaking in plain English, this is a security test of a system (standalone or networked) against attacks from malicious or dangerous sources. Important thing to note here is that the results are divided into levels, typically low, medium and high threat levels. So we know which vulnerabilities need the most attention. Although some readers may find it a bit similar to hacking, and it is, but the difference is only with the permission from the system owner. In case you are planning to perform a penetration test on someone else's system, ...