Penetration testing plays an important role in application security by identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses in applications. It helps to:

Find vulnerabilities that automated tools miss
Mimic real-world attacks
Provide insights on how to improve security controls
Penetration tests are conducted by security experts who think like attackers. They use the same techniques as hackers to evaluate the security of applications.

Some key benefits of penetration testing are:

It can uncover both known and unknown vulnerabilities
It simulates how attackers would actually target an application
The results provide actionable recommendations to fix issues and harden security
The penetration testing process typically involves:

Reconnaissance - Gathering information about the target application
Scanning - Using tools to examine the application for vulnerabilities
Gaining Access - Attempting to exploit vulnerabilities to breach security controls
Maintaining Access - Seeing if access can be maintained long enough to achieve goals
Analysis - Compiling results into a report of findings and recommendations
The penetration test report details specific vulnerabilities found, sensitive data accessed, and how long the testers were able to remain undetected.

Organizations can use these insights from penetration tests to:

Patch vulnerabilities
Configure web application firewalls and other controls
Improve the security of development processes
Meet compliance requirements like PCI DSS
In summary, penetration testing plays a critical role in application security programs by identifying weaknesses that automated tools miss. The results provide valuable input for strengthening defenses, hardening configurations, and improving the overall security posture of applications.