What is a major drawback of penetration testing?

Penetration testing is a security assessment process where ethical hackers simulate attacks on a system to discover vulnerabilities. One of the significant drawbacks of this approach is that it may not catch all potential vulnerabilities. This limitation arises because penetration tests are often conducted within a specific scope, time frame, and methodology, which might lead to certain areas not being thoroughly examined. Vulnerabilities can be context-dependent, and because the testing is a snapshot of the system at a specific moment, some issues may go unnoticed due to their complexity or the dynamic nature of software and systems.

Moreover, penetration tests typically focus on the most likely attack vectors and may prioritize known vulnerabilities over unknown or zero-day vulnerabilities. As a result, while penetration testing is a valuable tool in the cybersecurity toolkit, it cannot guarantee the complete security of a system, as there may always be additional vulnerabilities that remain undiscovered. This underlines the importance of complementing penetration testing with other security measures and ongoing assessments to maintain a robust security posture.