Penetration test

An authorised, simulated attack on a system carried out to find security weaknesses before real attackers do.

Example

An independent firm testing a company's web application and reporting vulnerabilities to fix.

Important

A test only helps if its findings are fixed and retested.

Related terms

  • Personal data — Information relating to an identified or identifiable individual, such as names, contact details, identifiers or health information, often protected by data protection laws.
  • Technical Risk — The risk that a technology will not work as intended, cannot be produced at scale, or takes much longer to develop than planned.

Lessons that explain it

  • A breach can cost a young company its customers, not just its data — Security diligence checks how a company protects systems and customer data, what incidents it has had, and whether it meets the obligations its customers and regulators expect. (10 min)

All 578 terms in the Investing glossary