Penetration testing (pen testing) helps strengthen cybersecurity by evaluating security vulnerabilities and exposing their potential impacts. Pen testing simulates real attacks on a system, network, or web application to uncover security flaws that could be exploited by hackers. It goes beyond just finding vulnerabilities to successfully exploit them and assess the effects. Pen testing is done both internally to test defenses against insider threats, and externally to test protections from outside attacks. The results of pen testing help organizations take necessary actions to improve their cybersecurity.