Pentest
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
Pentest is just short for penetration testing — the art of ethically hacking your own systems to find weaknesses. A pentester gets paid to think like an attacker. They poke, prod, and probe until they find a way in, then write a report. Way better than waiting for a real hacker to find it first.
Real Talk
Pentest (penetration test) encompasses scanning (Nmap, Nessus), vulnerability exploitation (Metasploit), web app testing (Burp Suite), and social engineering. Deliverables typically include a findings report with severity ratings (Critical/High/Medium/Low) and remediation recommendations.
When You'll Hear This
"The pentest report listed 3 critical findings to fix." / "We run internal pentests quarterly and external ones annually."
Related Terms
Bug Bounty
A bug bounty program pays ethical hackers to find security vulnerabilities in your product.
MITM (MITM)
MITM stands for Man-in-the-Middle. An attacker silently sits between your browser and the server, eavesdropping on everything.
Penetration Testing
Penetration testing (pentesting) is hiring ethical hackers to try to break into your own systems before the real bad guys do.
Security Audit
A security audit is a systematic review of your code, infrastructure, and processes to find security weaknesses.
Vulnerability
A vulnerability is a weakness in your code or system that a bad guy could exploit. Like a broken lock on a door.