Purpose: The primary goal is to identify weaknesses that could allow attackers to gain unauthorized access, manipulate data, or compromise the application.

Scope: Web portals, applications, and dashboards (internal and public-facing), authentication mechanisms (login, MFA, SSO), user roles, permissions, and access control, input fields, forms, and user-generated content, file upload/download functions, APIs and web services (REST, SOAP, GraphQL), client-side and server-side scripts, session and cookie management, third-party integrations and dependencies.

Methodology: Testers follow the OWASP Testing Guide and simulate real attack techniques. The test includes reconnaissance, vulnerability scanning, manual testing for business logic flaws, and exploitation of identified issues. All findings are documented with severity ratings and remediation steps.

Types of External Penetration Tests

Black Box: No credentials, simulates an external attacker

Grey Box: Limited access (e.g., user account) to test authorization controls

White Box: Full access, including code or backend knowledge (if provided)