Advancing Cybersecurity: Semi-Automated Penetration Testing for Enhanced Vulnerability Detection

In the face of increasing cyberattacks, organizations today depend heavily on information technology resources, making regular penetration testing crucial for identifying system vulnerabilities and potential exploits. While automated vulnerability management tools are widely used, they often present challenges such as result interpretation, irrelevant findings, and overwhelming volumes of data that complicate the extraction of critical information. Manual penetration testing, on the other hand, offers greater flexibility, enabling professionals to tailor their methods to the specific characteristics of a given environment. This study focuses on semi-automated penetration testing, blending automated efficiency with manual adaptability, to identify vulnerabilities in a web application, providing insights into optimizing vulnerability detection processes.