What Is the Difference Between Code Review and Penetration Testing?

Businesses should therefore establish a testing schedule based on their risk and how frequently their environment changes. This guide on how often a business should perform a penetration test provides additional considerations for establishing an appropriate cadence.

Code reviews can similarly be integrated into the software development lifecycle whenever significant security-sensitive changes are introduced.

The Best Approach Depends on Your Security Goals

Code review and penetration testing answer different security questions.

Code review asks:

"Are there security weaknesses in the way our software is built?"

Penetration testing asks:

"Can an attacker exploit weaknesses in our deployed environment?"

For organizations developing their own applications, code review can help identify problems earlier in the development process. For businesses operating live applications and systems, penetration testing can provide valuable insight into real-world exploitability.

Ultimately, the strongest security strategy does not have to choose between the two. Combining secure code review with penetration testing can provide both visibility into the underlying code and validation of the security of the deployed application.

That combination helps businesses identify weaknesses earlier, understand their root causes, and reduce the chances that attackers discover them first.