What Is The Difference Between Vulnerability Assessment And Penetration Testing?

Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are used interchangeably by many people, either because of misunderstanding or marketing hype. But, both the terms are different from each other in terms of their objectives and other means. However, before describing the differences, let us first understand both the terms one by one.

Vulnerability Assessment 

Vulnerability Assessment is a technique or process that helps identify security vulnerabilities in a given environment or network. The assessment helps determine the level of susceptibility to different vulnerabilities the system is exposed to. It is a comprehensive assessment process that involves using automated security scanning tools to find and measure the severity and level of exposure to vulnerabilities in an environment. Tools like NESSUS, Rapid Nexpose,  Web-scan, CISCO Secure Scanner, SQL Diet, etc. are used for analyzing the network/application and yielding a list of vulnerabilities that are prioritized (low, medium, high) based on its severity.

Vulnerability scans and vulnerability assessments search systems for known vulnerabilities. A penetration test attempts to actively exploit weaknesses in an environment. While a vulnerability scan can be automated, a penetration test requires various levels of expertise.

Regular vulnerability scanning is necessary for maintaining information security. Secureworks® incident response (IR) analysts have observed some clients performing vulnerability scans weekly and others not performing these vital scans at all. Secureworks analysts recommend scanning every new piece of equipment before it is deployed and at least quarterly afterwards. Any changes to the equipment should immediately be followed by another vulnerability scan. The scan will detect issues such as missing patches and outdated protocols, certificates, and services.

Penetration Test

Completely in contrast to Vulnerability Assessment, the Penetration Test which is also known as the Pen Test is a practice of testing systems/networks to determine security vulnerabilities in a system by ethically hacking into it. The practice involves attempting an exploit by simulating a real-life attack in the form of ethical hacking into systems to test the defense and determine weak areas.  The test identifies potential paths an attacker could route through into the systems and orchestrate an attack and breach defense systems. Similar to Vulnerability Assessment, Penetration testing also involves using automated Vulnerability tools and scanners to determine vulnerabilities. However, in addition to the automated tools, other manual Pen test tools are utilized to scan and test web applications and network infrastructure.

Penetration tests are best conducted by a third-party vendor rather than internal staff to provide an objective view of the network environment and avoid conflicts of interest. Various tools are used in a penetration test, but the effectiveness of this type of test relies on the tester. The tester should have a breadth and depth of experience in information technology, preferably in the organization’s area of business; an ability to think abstractly and attempt to anticipate threat actor behaviors; the focus to be thorough and comprehensive; and a willingness to show how and why an organization’s environment could be compromised.

Penetration Testing	Vulnerability Assessments
Determines the scope of an attack.	Makes a directory of assets and resources in a given system.
Tests sensitive data collection.	Discovers the potential threats to each resource.
Gathers targeted information and/or inspects the system.	Allocates quantifiable value and significance to the available resources.
Cleans up the system and gives the final report.	Attempts to mitigate or eliminate the potential vulnerabilities of valuable resources.
It is non-intrusive, documentation and environmental review and analysis.	Comprehensive analysis and thorough review of the target system and its environment.
It is ideal for physical environments and network architecture.	It is ideal for lab environments.
It is meant for critical real-time systems.	It is meant for non-critical systems.

Conclusion

Finally, We know that vulnerability assessment is more secure than penetration test, beneficial, and gives better results in comparison to penetration testing. But, experts suggest that, as a part of a security management system, both techniques should be performed routinely to ensure a perfectly secured environment.