Certified Governance Risk and Compliance (CGRC) Practice Exam

A characteristic of Zero-knowledge penetration testing is that the tester has no prior knowledge of the environment. This approach simulates an attack from an external hacker's perspective, who typically would not have insider information about the systems or the organization’s defenses. The intent is to assess how well the organization can withstand an attack without prior insights into its infrastructure, configurations, or security measures. This form of testing is valuable because it reveals potential vulnerabilities that a real-world attacker could exploit, highlighting weaknesses that may not be apparent if the tester had prior knowledge. It evaluates the organization's security posture in a more realistic, adversarial context. In contrast, the other choices represent different levels of knowledge in penetration testing scenarios. Complete access or partial knowledge would not align with the zero-knowledge principle, as these approaches allow testers to leverage information that could skew the results. Testing under supervision implies oversight that can change the tester's behavior and approach, further deviating from the intent of simulating a genuine attack.