What term describes automated testing that generates invalid input to attempt to crash a program?

• A. Manual testing
• B. Security auditing
• C. Fuzzing
• D. Stress testing

Answer: (C)

Fuzzing is automated testing that generates invalid, unexpected inputs to try to crash or destabilize a program. The idea is to throw a wide variety of malformed data at the software so it encounters edge cases, memory errors, or unhandled conditions that lead to crashes or exploitable behavior. This approach is especially useful for uncovering robustness issues and security vulnerabilities that might not be found with hand-crafted tests.

Compared to manual testing, fuzzing automation quickly explores many input possibilities without requiring testers to design every case. It differs from security auditing, which focuses on reviewing code and design rather than repeatedly feeding inputs. It also isn’t primarily about pushing the system with high load; that’s stress testing, which targets performance under heavy usage rather than finding crashes from invalid inputs.