312-50V10 Question #797: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

The correct answer is B: A penetration test actively exploits vulnerabilities in the targeted infrastructure, while a. A penetration test goes beyond identifying vulnerabilities by actively exploiting them to demonstrate real-world impact, whereas a vulnerability scan only identifies and reports potential weaknesses.

Question

Why is a penetration test considered to be more thorough than vulnerability scan?

Options

AVulnerability scans only do host discovery and port scanning by default.
BA penetration test actively exploits vulnerabilities in the targeted infrastructure, while a
CIt is not - a penetration test is often performed by an automated tool, while a vulnerability scan
DThe tools used by penetration testers tend to have much more comprehensive vulnerability

Explanation

A penetration test goes beyond identifying vulnerabilities by actively exploiting them to demonstrate real-world impact, whereas a vulnerability scan only identifies and reports potential weaknesses.

Common mistakes.

A. Vulnerability scanners perform much more than host discovery and port scanning - they also check service versions, configurations, and known CVEs against a comprehensive signature database.
C. This reverses the reality; penetration tests are typically performed by skilled human testers using manual techniques, while vulnerability scans are the predominantly automated process.
D. The comprehensiveness of tool vulnerability databases is not the defining distinction; the key difference is active exploitation versus passive identification of weaknesses.

Concept tested. Penetration testing vs vulnerability scanning methodology

Reference. https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-115/final

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