Authored by: PlexTrac Author Posted on: October 3, 2025 Master Pentest Reporting: Join the 2025–2026 Penetration Testing Report Writing Bootcamp In July 2025 we kicked off our first Penetration Testing Report Writing Bootcamp at BSIDES Albuquerque after hearing prospects and customers share a common pain point: There just aren’t many opportunities for continuing education in the security reporting space. It’s not that courses on report writing don’t exist, but most are either entry-level refreshers or at-your-own-pace modules that lack interaction, feedback, and the kind of personalized instruction security professionals need to really level up. And given that reports are what drive security improvements, staying up-to-date on reporting best practices is crucial. That gap inspired us to build something different. Current Course Offerings on Penetration Testing Report Writing SANS Institute The SANS Institute provides a 12-hour, self-paced course titled Cybersecurity Writing: Hack the Reader, designed to help security professionals develop persuasive communication skills and produce more impactful reports. It’s a fantastic tool to help better frame your text and insert the right visuals, but it’s not hands-on and doesn’t teach you best practices or give you experience in a report writing platform. Pluralsight Pluralsight offers a course titled, Writing Offensive Security Reports. The course, though a great, entry-level aid, is only 36 minutes and is just meant to cover the basics elements required for an offensive security report. Hack the Box Hack the Box offers a lot of useful report writing templates and guides to help speed up your report writing, but it’s not instructional so there are no opportunities to ask questions or hear about new trends in the industry. What Is Offered In PlexTrac’s Report Writing Bootcamp Our bootcamp was designed from the ground up to support security practitioners at every level and role. Built by PlexTrac experts with real front-line experience, including our founder Daniel DeCloss, the program goes beyond theory and “text book” knowledge. We cover the foundations of effective report writing, introduce tools and PlexTrac features to boost speed and quality, and, most importantly, provide interactive exercises with live, on-the-spot feedback so you can sharpen your skills in real time and ask questions. Our curriculum consists of three parts: Foundations and Audience Alignment, Technical Clarity and Documentation, and Building and Delivering With Impact. Let’s dive into the specific elements of each module. PlexTrac’s Report Writing Bootcamp Modules Module 1: Foundations & Audience Alignment Understand the structure and purpose of a pentest report, and how to tailor it to multiple stakeholder needs from CISOs to network teams to developers. Practice breaking down sample reports based on audience and writing executive summaries from fictional, yet common, scenarios. Module 2: Technical Clarity & Documentation Master the structure and language needed to document technical findings with clarity and credibility. You’ll learn to organize results across network and application layers, apply CVSS and business impact ratings, and write precise proof-of-concepts, reproduction steps, and supporting evidence. The module also addresses common pitfalls like jargon or weak severity justification and closes with remediation best practices for platforms such as Linux, IIS, PHP, and React. The hands-on exercise for this module is to rewrite a poorly written vulnerability finding into a professional, actionable format. Module 3: Building & Delivering With Impact Bring it all together by assembling a full report with risk charts, framework mappings, and a balance of executive and technical detail. Practice tracking remediation statuses. You’ll also sharpen delivery skills by “mock” walking stakeholders, like CISOs or development teams, through the results in a way that’s meaningful and actionable to them Takeaways From Participants of PlexTrac’s Penetration Testing Report Writing Bootcamp Over the past several months, we’ve had the opportunity to conduct the course both in-person and virtually four times. We offer both a “crash course” version which excludes the hand-on exercises as well as the traditional “bootcamp” which is a three- to four-hour master class with access to the PlexTrac platform. The course has been widely attended by prospects and customers with ranging levels of experience or pentest involvement. We’ve seen entry-level pentesters, seasoned pentesters, CISOs, and everyone in between. Recent feedback from the course has touted it a “must attend” for anyone in the space. Whether you’re looking to learn about pentest reporting best practices, stay up to date on the latest trends and tools, or poke around in the PlexTrac platform, this course is for you. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and bookmark our events page for upcoming at conference sessions. PlexTrac Author At PlexTrac, we bring together insights from a diverse range of voices. Our blog features contributions from industry experts, ethical hackers, CTOs, influencers, and PlexTrac team members—all sharing valuable perspectives on cybersecurity, pentesting, and risk management.
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