What are the three types of penetration tests?
Penetration testing is a critical component of any mature cybersecurity program. It helps organizations proactively uncover vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. Different types of pentests serve different purposes, use different techniques, and uncover different classes of risks. This post explores the major types of penetration testing, explains their value, and highlights how dynamic application security testing (DAST) fits into a modern security strategy.
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What is penetration testing?
Penetration testing is a broad term for commissioned simulated cyberattacks conducted by ethical hackers to identify and exploit security weaknesses in systems, networks, applications, or even people and physical environments. The goal is to safely uncover vulnerabilities that could be used in real-world attacks and to provide actionable insights for remediation. As the name suggests, the primary aim of pentesting is to find and report places where attackers could get through existing defenses, not to deliver a comprehensive assessment of all security vulnerabilities.
Why are penetration tests performed?
Organizations perform penetration tests to:
- Assess the real-world exploitability of vulnerabilities
- Validate the effectiveness of existing security controls
- Fulfill regulatory and compliance requirements (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2)
- Build trust with stakeholders by demonstrating proactive risk management
- Improve overall incident response and security maturity
What are the types of penetration testing?
At a high level, penetration testing methodologies can be classified depending on how much knowledge and access the tester has at the start of the engagement. The approach adopted will vary depending on the specific scope required by the client.
Black-box penetration testing
In black-box or outside-in testing, the tester has no prior knowledge of the target environment or access to its internals. This simulates the actions of an external attacker and reveals what information an outsider could gather and what security weaknesses could be exploited.
White-box penetration testing
White-box testing gives the tester full access to internal documentation, source code, and system architecture. It allows for a thorough, deep-dive assessment of potential vulnerabilities to identify not only immediately exploitable gaps but also internal weaknesses that attackers could target after gaining an initial foothold.
Gray-box penetration testing
Gray-box testing offers a hybrid approach, providing testers with partial insider knowledge, such as selected credentials or limited information about the internal architecture. It aims to simulate what a privileged user (or a compromised privileged account) or an insider threat might achieve.
What areas of cybersecurity can you test during penetration testing?
The scope of a pentesting engagement can vary from one specific area (most commonly network and application security) to a no-holds-barred red-team exercise where testers are allowed to use any and all dirty tricks to try and get their hands on company data and systems.
Wireless security testing
Wireless penetration testing focuses on Wi-Fi networks, access points, and related infrastructure.
Why should you perform wireless network penetration tests?
Wireless networks can be an easy entry point for attackers if misconfigured or weakly secured. A wireless pen test can identify rogue access points, insecure encryption, and opportunities for man-in-the-middle attacks.
Network security testing
Network penetration tests target internal or external networks to find weaknesses in routers, switches, firewalls, and other infrastructure.
Why should you perform network penetration tests?
Testing your network helps uncover open ports, misconfigured services, and exploitable vulnerabilities that could allow lateral movement or unauthorized access to sensitive systems.
Social engineering resilience testing
These tests simulate phishing, pretexting, impersonation, or other psychological tactics to trick employees into revealing credentials or other sensitive data.
Why should you perform social engineering tests?
People are often the weakest link in security. Testing human susceptibility to manipulation helps strengthen training and policies to reduce this risk.
Physical security testing
Physical penetration testing evaluates the security of buildings and facilities to see if a real attacker could gain unauthorized access, bypass locks, or access restricted areas.
Why should you perform a physical penetration test?
Even the best digital defenses won’t help if an attacker can walk into your data center or steal unencrypted hardware from the office. Physical tests ensure your security controls extend beyond the network.
Firewall testing
This test evaluates the configuration and effectiveness of network and application firewalls in enforcing network segmentation and access controls.
Why should you penetration test your firewall?
Firewalls are your first line of defense—but they’re only as effective as their rules. Testing can uncover misconfigurations, overly permissive rules, or weaknesses in filtering mechanisms.
Web application security testing
Web app penetration testing simulates attacks against public-facing or internal applications to find vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), broken access controls, and more.
Why should you perform web application penetration tests?
Web apps are the most common cybersecurity attack vector. Pen testing uncovers exploitable flaws in the logic, implementation, or configuration of your applications that could lead to data breaches or service disruptions.
Mobile application security testing
Mobile pen testing evaluates iOS and Android apps, backends, and APIs for insecure storage, weak authentication, and other platform-specific issues.
Why should you pen test mobile applications?
Mobile apps interact with sensitive user data and APIs, often providing an additional front-end for accessing critical systems. Testing ensures they can’t be exploited via weak client-side logic, ineffective authentication, or insecure data handling.
Cloud security testing
Cloud penetration testing targets misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in services hosted on platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
Why should you pen test your cloud infrastructure?
Cloud misconfigurations are a leading cause of data leaks. Penetration testing helps ensure that access permissions, network settings, and service configurations align with security best practices.
How often should pen testing be conducted?
Frequency depends on your risk profile, compliance requirements, and change cadence. A good baseline is:
- Annually for general security assurance
- After significant changes (new deployments, architecture overhauls)
- Quarterly or continuously for high-risk systems or regulated environments
Integrating penetration testing with your SDLC workflow can help to ensure you’re not just checking a box but actively improving your security posture.
Why DAST matters in the context of penetration testing
When it comes to scalable, consistent, and actionable testing in modern web application environments, dynamic application security testing (DAST) tools can bridge the gap between human-led assessments and automated precision. DAST aligns with black-box pentesting principles, simulating external attacks by probing running applications without access to the underlying code. This makes it an ideal candidate for discovering vulnerabilities as they would be seen and exploited by real-world attackers.
Most pentesters use manual DAST tools to help them with the recon phase and attack automation, but advanced DAST solutions also provide a standalone complement or even an alternative to manual testing. Unlike typical periodic penetration tests, a good DAST can be integrated into your development lifecycle to provide continuous and fully automated assessments, turning ad-hoc insights into ongoing protection.
Having a DAST-first security program means reduced noise and an increased focus on real, exploitable risks. With advanced technologies like Invicti’s proof-based scanning, DAST tools can find and confirm many common vulnerabilities automatically. This lets your security and development teams fix as many exploitable issues as possible before the pentesters arrive, making DAST a force and value multiplier for manual testing.
Penetration testing type FAQs
What are the possible types of penetration testing?
Penetration testing assignments include wireless, network, social engineering, physical, firewall, web application, mobile application, and cloud infrastructure testing. Each type targets specific areas of your IT environment to uncover real-world security vulnerabilities.
What is the difference between black-box, white-box, and gray-box testing?
Black-box testing simulates an external attacker with no internal knowledge. White-box testing provides full access to systems and code. Gray-box testing offers partial information, representing an insider threat or compromised user. All these pentesting approaches also have corresponding automated tools, with DAST performing black-box testing, SAST white-box testing, and IAST gray-box testing.
How often should you conduct penetration testing?
Penetration testing frequency depends on your specific compliance and security policy requirements, but testing should be conducted at least annually or after any significant changes to your infrastructure. High-risk environments may require quarterly or continuous testing integrated into development workflows.
Why is penetration testing important for web applications?
Web applications are a frequent target for attackers. Penetration testing helps identify vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and broken access controls before they can be exploited. Running an accurate DAST tool before commissioning a pentest lets companies internally resolve many simpler vulnerabilities to get better value from manual testing.
How does DAST compare to traditional penetration testing?
DAST tools simulate real-world attacks against live applications without access to source code. Unlike one-time pen tests, DAST enables continuous security testing and automatically validates vulnerabilities to reduce false positives. Note that most pentesters also start their engagements by running some kind of DAST tool.
Is social engineering part of a penetration test?
If the engagement scope covers it, social engineering can be a key component of some penetration tests. It assesses how susceptible your users are to tactics like phishing or impersonation, helping strengthen security awareness and policies.
What should be included in a penetration test report?
A high-quality report should include an executive summary, risk rankings (e.g., CVSS), technical details of each finding, proof of exploit, and detailed remediation recommendations.
