Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing
VAPT stands for Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing. It's a comprehensive approach to identifying, evaluating, and addressing security vulnerabilities in an organization's IT infrastructure, applications, networks, and systems.
VAPT combines two distinct but complementary processes:
Vulnerability Assessment (VA):
This is the process of identifying and classifying security vulnerabilities in a system. It typically involves automated tools and scans to detect known weaknesses, such as:
Outdated software or patches
Misconfigurations
Open ports
Unsecured APIs
Weak passwords
Goal: To create a list of vulnerabilities that need attention.
Penetration Testing (PT):
Also known as ethical hacking, this step involves simulating real-world attacks to exploit the vulnerabilities found during the assessment. A cybersecurity expert attempts to breach systems to:
Validate the severity of identified vulnerabilities
Understand potential impact
Test how well existing security controls work
Goal: To demonstrate how an attacker could exploit weaknesses and how to fix them.
Why is VAPT Important?
Prevents data breaches
Protects sensitive business and customer information
Ensures compliance with standards (like ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, GDPR, etc.)
Enhances trust with clients and stakeholders
Helps organizations understand and reduce their attack surface
