Penetration Tester & Security Researcher
Peter leads offensive security research at BackDoor — focused on autonomous black-box testing, web and API exploitation, and turning real-world attack paths into fixable, evidence-backed findings.
7 articles by Peter Tovanov
Types of Penetration Testing: A Complete Guide
The main types of penetration testing explained — black, white & grey box, and by target: network, web app, mobile, cloud, wireless, and social engineering.
Penetration Testing Steps: The 7 Phases Explained
A step-by-step guide to the penetration testing process — from scoping and reconnaissance to exploitation, reporting, and retest, plus how long it takes.
Penetration Testing Methodology: The Phases That Actually Matter
A practical penetration testing methodology — recon to reporting — mapped to PTES, OWASP, and NIST SP 800-115, the way a real engagement runs.
Penetration Testing Tools: The Stack We Actually Use
The penetration testing tools that earn their place in 2026 — recon, scanning, exploitation, reporting — and how they fit a real engagement.
Automated Penetration Testing: What to Automate, What to Never Automate
Automated, autonomous, agentic — what the labels mean, what today’s tools actually cover, and where automation quietly fails.
Black-Box Penetration Testing: Attacking From the Outside In
What black-box penetration testing is, how it compares to white- and grey-box, and how to run one that mirrors a real attacker.
AI Penetration Testing: What It Actually Does (and Doesn’t)
How AI penetration testing works, where autonomous agents beat manual pentests, and where they don’t. A practitioner’s guide, not hype.