CompTIA bolsters penetration testing certification

CompTIA recently upgraded its PenTest+ certification program to educate professionals on cybersecurity penetration testing with training for artificial intelligence (AI), scanning and analysis, and vulnerability management, among other things.

PenTest+ certification training now includes access to a hackable website that provides live targets and vulnerabilities for cybersecurity professionals to identify and mitigate real-world threats, according to CompTIA. The certification course will validate that cybersecurity professionals have knowledge and skills in “penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, mitigation, reporting, and other responsibilities that proactively protect cybersecurity resources,” CompTIA said in a statement.

Cybersecurity penetration testing, or pen testing, involves a security assessment in which a security professional acts like a malicious hacker would and simulates a cyberattack on a computer system or network to identify potential vulnerabilities. This lets organizations then proactively address the vulnerability or weakness and fix them before an actual attack occurs. Using the same tools and techniques as hackers lets security professionals find exploitable weaknesses in the system.