A penetration test, or ‘pen test’, is a form of ethical hacking. It will contain a simulated cyberattack against a network to check for vulnerabilities, it also may include social engineering and physical penetration. The limit of the testing is determined by the scope set by the organization. Some organizations may only be concerned about the risks posed to their infrastructure while others may extend to the physical realm by testing their employees and physical security. These penetration testers utilize tools and strategies designed to access or attack networks, applications, websites, users, and even physical access to sensitive data. The goal of pen testing is to identify vulnerabilities and develop a comprehensive pen testing report that can be used to establish effective security awareness and mitigation.
Penetration tests are a useful exercise to mitigate risks and patch vulnerable systems. However, many organizations use pen testing and their associated reports to adhere to rigid compliance standards, ignoring any further development of their security posture. The writing of an effective and comprehensive report is necessary to properly address vulnerabilities and mitigate risks.
Penetration testers collect and strategically organize the information collected into a single penetration test report. Here are a few examples of qualities that you should look for in an outstanding pen testing report.
The Executive Summary
The executive summary offers an easy-to-understand description of the analyzed risks and their impact, financial or otherwise. The executive summary report should offer insights that are incisive, comprehensive, and accessible to all stakeholders, including those who are not technically proficient. The summary should be concise, especially for company executives who are looking for takeaways without having to go through the complete report. Upon reading the executive summary, all business executives should have a basic understanding of the problem and the recommended solutions.
Technical details of the Risks
A good penetration test report should provide a detailed description of the security vulnerabilities along with technical information. This would assist IT professionals in developing effective solutions with minimal difficulty. The report must also provide technical details of the risks and should be clearly explained so any reader can understand the nature and extent of risk. This section of the pen testing report will describe the risks in technical terms, along with evidence of vulnerabilities and a walk-through to allow the IT staff to replicate and understand the vulnerabilities.
Vulnerabilities are often distributed in a few categories, like:
- Severity and level of priority
- Category of the vulnerability
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)
Impact of the Vulnerabilities
This section of the penetration test report should describe both the possible impact of each vulnerability and the likelihood of risk. The level of risk should be precisely contextualized and presented in concise language.
In terms of the level of risk, each vulnerability should be assigned a level of priority so they can be addressed according to the risk they pose.
Solutions to mitigate the risks
This is the section that holds the most value of the report, it provides the best possible approach to remediate or fix each vulnerability. A quality pen test report should offer multiple options that are comprehensive enough to guide and prepare the organization’s IT staff for a resolution and should be tailor-made to meet the unique needs of the business.
The overall report should accomplish these objectives: advise IT managers about the risks to rectify, inform executives on whether their business is safe, and guide IT professionals towards solutions. When these qualities are concisely presented and logically organized, that is a sign of a great penetration test report. Any company that is well versed in penetration testing should offer their clients a detailed report that helps them mitigate any security vulnerabilities to prevent damaging attacks.
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