Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I offer insight on cyber security issues for businesses and consumers. This article is more than 10 years old. For the second post ...

Definition: Penetration testing is a process in which a security professional simulates an attack on a network or computer system to evaluate its security—with the permission of that system’s owners.

Social engineering is an attacker's most effective weapon -- Kevin Mitnick's newly released memoirs are a testament to that fact. In a physical penetration test, the attacker's goal is to get inside ...