If you’ve ever wondered what is the primary goal of penetration testing, it’s because they want to go beyond the usual checks and preventive measures. Penetration testing is about performing a “live-fire” test of your security. Unlike vulnerability scanning or code audits, which are essential for finding known weaknesses, a penetration test is about understanding how all your systems stand up to a determined, skilled attacker.
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. – Mike Tyson
Imagine this in terms of sports. Remember Mike Tyson’s famous line? “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” That’s essentially the difference between having great preventive security and doing a penetration test. Vulnerability scanning and code audits are like going to the gym every day: punching the bag, doing your sit-ups, and preparing yourself. A penetration test is where you step into the ring against a real opponent—someone who wants to hit back and exploit any gaps in your defense.
Ok, so with that said, what is the goal of penetration testing? The primary goal of penetration testing is to face off against someone who knows how to hurt you—but in a controlled way. This isn’t about causing damage; it’s about exposing vulnerabilities you didn’t know you had, so you can fix them before someone malicious finds them. A penetration tester is like a sparring partner. They’re there to show you your weak spots, the ones a real attacker would aim for.
A good penetration test makes sure you’re ready for the real thing.
A Pentesting Story to Drive It Home
Let me share an example from my experience. I was working with a company that had recently acquired another organization. As part of their due diligence, we helped them perform a security audit of the acquired company’s codebase – our customer was going to the gym and getting ready for a big fight. This included static code analysis, which helped us identify many potential issues.
After the acquisition, they brought us in to conduct a full penetration test. During the test, we uncovered many of the vulnerabilities we expected from the code audit, but we also discovered a glaring critical issue: their CI/CD platform was exposed to unauthenticated external access. This was a vulnerability that would have been extremely hard to identify without thinking and acting like an adversary.
When we find an issue like this, we immediately contact the customer to disclose it, as it had a critical impact on their security. Needless to say, our customer was very happy with how the assessment turned out, and they fixed the issue the very night we discovered it.
Conclusion
A good penetration test makes sure you’re ready for the real thing, are you ready to enter the ring? It takes everything you’ve done to protect your organization—your firewalls, your patches, your code reviews—and puts them to the test against someone with real-world tactics and the skills to exploit any weak points. The ultimate goal? Finding those gaps, tightening your defenses, and being better prepared when a real attacker comes knocking.
Justin is the CEO and founder of SecureCoders. His background comes from working for the DoD and Federal government performing penetration testing and security assessments. Justin has also founded several startups over the years.
