The variety of penetration tests that have surfaced over the past several years can easily be confused by organizations. The differences between penetration tests, ethical hacking, and red teaming are important to understand for IT security organizations seeking to evaluate their cybersecurity posture and performance.
Penetration testing is a common way for organizations to test their security maturity and identify potential vulnerabilities in their environment. In today’s market, however, there are a growing number of options. The terminology surrounding penetration testing can be confusing to even the most educated cybersecurity professionals. With new types of testing available every year, it is important to know the latest and most effective ways of assessing cybersecurity performance. Commonly confused terms include penetration testing, ethical hacking, red teaming and capture the flag exercises.