What is Penetration

Penetration

1. In telecommunications, penetration can mean the act of trying to circumvent or break through a security barrier, like a firewall or encryption. A person (hacker) attempts to penetrate using various methods, including finding weaknesses, brute-force attacks, or even repeated access attempts in hopes the system fails due to being overwhelmed (e.g. DDoS attack).

To help prevent penetrations companies may conduct or hire outside companies to conduct penetration tests to help make sure their networks and computers are secure.

2. Penetration can also mean the physical act of penetrating a solid wall, for the purpose of running wire or cable through it. Similarly, a radio signal is said to be in the act of penetration when it passes through a solid wall.