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Application & OT Security · Foundational

Black-Box Testing

Testing with no prior knowledge of the target's internals, simulating an external attacker; CompTIA calls it unknown-environment testing.

Definition

In black-box testing the tester receives little more than a company name or URL and must perform their own reconnaissance. It realistically emulates an outside attacker but is time-consuming and may miss deep flaws. CompTIA exams use the term 'unknown environment' for this approach.

Example

A tester given only 'example.com' must discover subdomains, IPs and technologies before attacking.

Exam tip

Map the CompTIA terminology: unknown environment = black box, partially known = gray box, known environment = white box.

Don't confuse it with

Related terms