Penetration Testing Basics: Ethical Hacking for Beginners

Penetration testing (pentesting) simulates attacks to identify vulnerabilities. Ethical pentesters follow defined scopes and produce remediation-focused reports.

Typical methodology

1. Reconnaissance (passive & active)
2. Scanning & enumeration
3. Exploitation
4. Post-exploitation & persistence
5. Reporting & remediation

Popular tools

• Nmap, Burp Suite, Metasploit, OWASP ZAP

Always obtain written authorization before testing any systems.