Lot of time we have seen customer asking about the difference between network Vulnerability assessment and penetration test. So here is quick difference between the two types of testing:
- Vulnerability Analysis is the process of identifying vulnerabilities on a network, whereas a Penetration Testing is focused on actually gaining unauthorized access to the tested systems and using that access to the network or data, as directed by the client.
- A Vulnerability Analysis provides an overview of the flaws that exist on the system while a Penetration Testing goes on to provide an impact analysis of the flaws identifies the possible impact of the flaw on the underlying network, operating system, database etc.
- Vulnerability Analysis is more of a passive process. In Vulnerability Analysis you use software tools that analyze both network traffic and systems to identify any exposures that increase vulnerability to attacks. Penetration Testing is an active practice wherein ethical hackers are employed to simulate an attack and test the network and systems’ resistance.
- Vulnerability Analysis deals with potential risks, whereas Penetration Testing is actual proof of concept. Vulnerability Analysis is just a process of identifying and quantifying the security Vulnerabilities in a system. Vulnerability Analysis doesn’t provide validation of Security Vulnerabilities. Validation can be only done by Penetration testing.
