How to Create a Killer Pentest Report
A Practitioner’s Guide for Automating Powerful, High-Quality Reports
An effective pentest report is a critical tool for organizations to quickly identify and address security vulnerabilities. But creating an accurate, comprehensive report can be daunting — especially if it’s done manually.
What makes a powerful pentest report?
Pentest report success in 5 steps:
STEP 1: Prepare
Define the purpose and scope of your report and gather all the necessary data and findings in a structured manner.
STEP 3: Present
Data Effectively
Communicate vulnerabilities using non-technical language where appropriate for diverse audiences and support findings with evidence, such as screenshots, code snippets, and metrics.
STEP 5: Finalize
Review and proofread the report for quality assurance before delivering it.
STEP 2: Organize
Write an executive summary, introduce the methodology, present findings with risk assessment, provide recommendations, and document the validation steps.
STEP 4: Ensure
Completeness
and Accuracy
Provide mitigation steps and impact assessment for decision-makers while also verifying accuracy, referencing sources, and offering an overview for non-technical stakeholders.
Why automate?
Key challenges and limitations of manual pentest reporting:
Time-consuming
processes
Potential for errors
and inconsistencies
Collaboration
difficulties
Only 29% of organizations have automated most (75% or more) of their security testing. (2021 SANS survey)
Now, what if you could do all this in under 5 minutes?
An automated pentest reporting platform eliminates manual reporting challenges by:
Cutting reporting time in half
Eliminating tedious, manual tasks
Improving quality and consistency
Promoting better collaboration
Providing more time for hacking
