The Five Stages of Penetration Testing

1. Reconnaissance

Gather information about the target.

Searching the company’s website or IP address.

2. Scanning

Check open ports, services, and vulnerabilities.

Using tools like Nmap.

3. Gaining Access

Try exploiting a weakness.

Using a known password leak.

4. Maintaining Access

Test if access can remain unnoticed.

Setting a backdoor temporarily.

5. Reporting

Document findings and suggest fixes.

Writing a security improvement report.