Penetration Testing is the practice of simulating an authorized simulated attack on a computer system, network or web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. It involves gathering information about the target, finding possible entry points, and attempting to break into the system. The objective of penetration testing is for a business to find weaknesses within their system’s security and to assess the overall health and security of a system. Typically, an outside security company is hired to perform the penetration testing by breaking into the company’s system in the same way an attacker would and reporting their findings. They are considered white hat hackers as they attack ethically to help secure a company’s digital assets, while black hat hackers will hack a company for personal or malicious gain. After the penetration testing is complete, the findings are reported back to the company to determine the best mitigation measures and patch up their systems to prevent hackers from exploiting these vulnerabilities in the future.