Penetration testing and ethical hacking are proactive ways of testing web applications by performing attacks that are similar to a real attack that could occur on any given day. They are executed in a controlled way with the objective of finding as many security flaws as possible and to provide feedback on how to mitigate the risks posed by such flaws.
It is very beneficial for companies to perform security testing on applications before releasing them to end users. In fact, there are security-conscious corporations that have nearly completely integrated penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and source code reviews in their software development cycle. Thus, when they release a new application, it has already been through various stages of testing and remediation.
