How To Select A Pen Testing Vendor?

Penetration testing is increasingly a crucial security necessity for enterprises of all sizes in today’s age of automated hacking systems, regular data breaches, and consumer protection laws like GDPR and PCI DSS. But what criteria should you use to select the best provider?

Finding a supplier who can give a high-quality test at an affordable price might be difficult due to the overwhelming amount of available options. How can you tell whether they are any good? How much security knowledge was present in the report? Is your programme safe, or did the provider merely fail to identify the flaws? Asking the appropriate questions up front can help even when there are no simple solutions.

Therefore, we are presenting to you three factors to be taken into consideration while selecting a pen testing vendor.

Price

It is analogous to asking how long a string is when customers inquire about the average cost of a penetration test. It depends on the material at hand and how far you need to go. Paint a bridge, for instance: It depends on its size and the number of coats of paint you want to apply. You might be exposed to the elements after just one coat.

Although discounts can be negotiated if you buy a lot of days (anything more than fifteen days would be considered a large test), day rates vary from vendor to vendor based on things like reputation, certifications, special requirements, and experience.

The vendor will frequently require a demonstration of your product or information about your environment to determine the duration of your work. The less questions they ask at this stage, the less likely it is that you will receive an accurate quote for the work.

Additionally, there is no standard for scoping a project, so estimates may differ. A task may be scoped for three days by one supplier and five by another. These are the best predictions; Until you do the work, it’s hard to be sure.

You can even purchase “fixed-fee” pentests; however, to return to the bridge analogy, if they offer coverage for a fixed fee without asking how big the job is, you should probably be concerned about coverage.

As with everything else in life, the quality of the penetration test should be reflected in the price you are quoted. However, in an industry where it is difficult to determine the quality of a test, there will undoubtedly be some dishonest sellers. Make sure you do your homework and ask the right questions.

Experience

The amount of work experience your pen tester has is another important factor. They will be better at identifying a wider range of security threats the more exposure they have.

It is also essential to keep in mind that not all experience is created equal, as certain types of testing may necessitate particular expertise in particular technologies, such as the Real Time Messaging Protocol or AWS Cognito. Check to see that your pen testing vendor has relevant experience working with the technologies you’re using.

Keep in mind that not every technology tester is available, so you may need to be adaptable. Although it could take them longer to get acquainted to the technology, a skilled penetration tester will be able to learn about the technology you need to test utilising skills and concepts from other industries.

Certifications

As a quick route to establishing trust, certifications are the best starting point. There are numerous professional certifications available, but CREST (Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers) is one of the most well-known.

The leading pen testing vendors in the UK established CREST specifically to address this issue, and it is now an internationally recognized mark of quality for a wide range of cyber security fields.

CREST has both a company-level certification and individual certifications where each tester must pass an exam to demonstrate their skills, so you still need to know what to look for. You don’t necessarily have both if you have one.

Companies that can demonstrate that their policies, procedures, and processes are up to par receive the company-wide accreditation, also known as the “CREST member company” designation. This enables penetration testing businesses to demonstrate on paper that they employ appropriate security testing methodologies and adhere to best practices. However, asking a “CREST member company” to conduct a pen test does not guarantee that the consultant is certified; rather, it only indicates that the company has a moral obligation to provide you with an appropriate tester.