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What is penetration testing?

Penetration testing, commonly known as pentesting, is a manual security assessment, analysis, and progression of simulated attacks on business assets, including applications, networks, APIs, and more, with the end goal to harden and improve security. The process is typically conducted with the same mindset, tools, and tactics a malicious actor would use to exploit the asset, which is why it’s also called ethical hacking.

Pentesting is required by many compliance frameworks, including PCI, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc., and should also be a strategic part of any security program. 

 

PENETRATION TESTING DEFINED

Proactively identify risks with pentesting

Pentesting helps evaluate the security of systems by safely trying to exploit vulnerabilities. By simulating real-world attacks, organizations can identify security weaknesses, understand the potential impact of breaches, and craft strategies to fortify their defenses and mitigate risks. By leveraging Pentesting as part of an offensive security approach, companies can evaluate existing security controls to ensure they are effective against potential threats.

MODERN PENETRATION TESTING SERVICES

Penetration Testing as a Service vs. Traditional Pentests

Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) offers a transformative approach to security testing compared to traditional pentesting methods.

  • Start a test in days instead of weeks, significantly accelerating the testing process.
  • PTaaS platforms enable real-time communication with pentesters to clarify findings and understand their implications.
  • Flexible reporting can be tailored to meet specific compliance requirements.
  • Streamline the remediation process with findings integrated into existing ticketing systems.
  • PTaaS offers on-demand retesting of vulnerabilities as fixes are made, ensuring that security improvements are validated. 
Pentest Planning Platform Screenshot
BENEFITS

Pentest as a Service is changing the way teams pentest

Trusted talent & integrations

Engage an expert pentester who best matches your needs and easily manage or aggregate all your pentest data with integrations to your tools such as Jira or GitHub.

Transparency, flexibility, & scalability

Discover and remediate vulnerabilities faster with real-time communication with pentesters. Start a new test in days while enhancing your ability to stay compliant and accelerate secure build-to-release cycles.

A modern penetration testing platform

With over a thousand customers trusting Cobalt to help improve their offensive security needs, you’ll be in good company when conducting a Cobalt Penetration Test. 

Pentest as a Service Lifecycle: Continuous testing made easy

The Cobalt Offensive Security Platform brings together data, technology, and talent to resolve security challenges in modern web applications, mobile applications, networks, APIs, and AI & LLMs. From penetration testing to red teaming, secure code review, and more, we identify security issues across your entire digital footprint to help you better understand and eliminate risk.

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Discover: Map your attack surface

Map your attack surface to identify critical internet-facing assets for testing. Leveraging customer input, and automated Attack Surface and DAST scanning, we create a map of your environment so we know where to look for vulnerabilities. 

Explore Attack Surface Management
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Plan: Build out your testing program

Prioritize and scope your pentests to meet the desired goals. Cobalt helps you proactively plan out your annual pentest schedule, resources, and budget to ensure continuous coverage across your applications, networks, and environment.

See DAST Solutions
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Test: Start expert analysis

Cobalt identifies domain experts with skills that match your technology stack. Your expert testers will analyze the targets for vulnerabilities and security flaws that could be exploited if not mitigated.

Meet Our Pentesters
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Remediate: Prioritize vulnerabilities intelligently

Take immediate action on high-severity findings while the test is ongoing. With real-time pentester collaboration and over 50 integrations, the Cobalt platform enables your team to start remediating vulnerabilities early, without waiting for the final report.

Explore platform integrations
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Retest: Free retesting with Cobalt

As vulnerabilities are reported and fixed, Cobalt Pentesters will verify the fix and update the final report. Every pentest includes free retesting of individual findings for either a 6 or 12-month period.

Explore remediation support
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Report & Analyze: Tailored reports for each stakeholder

Show pentesting results with full reports including findings details, an executive summary, and customer attestation to fit the needs of your key stakeholders. With insights and analysis in the Cobalt Platform, you can track and improve your security posture and show progress over time.

Explore report types
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