What is Penetration Testing to You?

My friend asked me "What is Penetration Testing?"I stumbled upon this question myself trying to figure out what the true meaning of "Pen Testing" is. I am doing it every day, like my daily routine, but that's it. Without thinking, I said to my friend, "pen testing is a process of someone who looks for security holes and reports them when he finds them."For beginners, that's a very good answer, but if you ask a professional penetration tester they will tell you something different and probably far more in depth than you'd understand.  I'm sure of that. You know why? Because the deeper you go, the more you understand and the deeper your understanding gets, your comprehension of what pen testing entails gets deeper as well.  You will be surprised by the true beauty of high-level penetration testing.One technical definition of Penetration testing (aka pentesting, pen testing, or ethical hacking) is the practice of testing a computer system, network or Web app to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. While a little more specific, each person has their own way of pen testing.Now, the real question remains; What is the meaning of "Penetration Testing" to you, personally?If you're a pro, then you know. If you're a novice, search around Cybrary and get more information about the process and what pen testers do. It will help you grow personally in your skill set and professionally. Goodluck!