An external network penetration test simulates attacks originating from the internet, mimicking the actions of an external attacker attempting to breach an organization's perimeter defenses. It focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in publicly accessible systems, such as firewalls, routers, and web servers, and assessing the effectiveness of perimeter security controls like intrusion detection and prevention systems. The objective is to evaluate the organization's exposure to external threats, providing actionable recommendations to strengthen perimeter defenses and prevent unauthorized access to internal resources from the internet.