What Is the Difference Between Code Review and Penetration Testing?

Security testers attempt to discover and exploit vulnerabilities to determine what an attacker could realistically accomplish.

A penetration test can uncover issues involving authentication, authorization, input validation, exposed services, application logic, configuration, and other weaknesses.

For a broader overview, see what penetration testing is and how it works.

Code Review vs. Penetration Testing

The simplest distinction is:

Code review examines how software is built. Penetration testing examines how the deployed software can be attacked.

Code review has access to the application's internal implementation. Penetration testing generally approaches the target from an attacker's perspective, depending on the agreed testing methodology and access level.

This creates two different perspectives.

Neither approach automatically replaces the other.

When Should a Business Choose Code Review?

Code review is particularly valuable during software development or when organizations have access to the application's source code.