Final answer:
Fuzzing techniques test a software application by sending it random or semi-random data as inputs to uncover security vulnerabilities, crashes, or problematic behaviors. It does not require understanding the internal workings of the software and can expose weaknesses not found by traditional testing methods.
Step-by-step explanation:
A security tester using fuzzing techniques is primarily interested in finding security vulnerabilities, crashes, or problematic behavior in software applications. Fuzzing accomplishes this by sending a lot of random or semi-random data as inputs to the application in hopes of triggering an error condition. Essentially, it involves automatically generating a large number of unexpected inputs for the application, monitoring its response in order to identify potential weaknesses that could be exploited by malicious entities.
The goal of fuzzing is to break the software by providing invalid, unexpected, or random data as input. The tester does not need to understand the internal workings of the software to use fuzzing effectively. This is beneficial because it can uncover vulnerabilities that might not be evident through code review or other more conventional testing methods. The assumption behind fuzzing is that if the software behaves unexpectedly or fails under a malformed or unexpected input, it might be exploitable.