How do you manage a penetration test project?

As a Senior Penetration Tester, I have been doing this job for 10 years now and I can say the following. The scope of the test should be agreed upon and documented in a contract or a statement of work (SOW) with the client or the stakeholder. This ensures that everyone involved in the project understands the expectations and that the test can be conducted fairly and effectively. Be as specific as possible. The more specific the scope, the more effective the test will be. Be realistic. Don't try to test everything. Focus on the most critical systems and applications. Be flexible. The scope may need to be adjusted as the project progresses. Be transparent. Communicate the scope to all stakeholders throughout the project.

You can use Cervantes project. Opensource, English,Spanish framework to use. Check it all: cervantessec.org. So usefull to implement and management the clients, projects and other themes about this topic etichal hacking.

The team should be composed of experienced penetration testers with the skills and knowledge necessary to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. The team should also have a good understanding of the target environment, including the systems, networks, and applications that will be tested. The tools and techniques that will be used for the test should be selected based on the scope and objectives of the test. The tools should be up-to-date and should be able to identify the vulnerabilities that are being targeted. The team should test and update the tools before the test. The tools should also be configured according to the scope and the rules of engagement.

The test should be conducted according to the agreed scope and methodology. This ensures that the test is fair and ethical, and that the results are accurate and reliable. The most common methodology for penetration testing is the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES). The PTES defines a four-phase approach to penetration testing: Reconnaissance: This phase involves gathering information about the target environment, such as its IP addresses, hostnames, and open ports. Scanning: This phase uses automated tools to scan the target environment for vulnerabilities. Exploitation: This phase uses the vulnerabilities that were identified in the scanning phase to gain access to the target environment.

One must also identify what is important to the business, what is the impact, what is the consequence, of the vulnerability or exploit being exploited. is availability important?, if it is the vulnerability being exploited and affecting availability would heighten the severity on top the CVSS score, same for integrity, or confidentiality or/and all of them. is it an access breaching vuln to a critical asset which sensitive data?, data exfiltrating. DDOS, etc.

The importance of a good executive summary can't be emphasized enough. Much of the audience for your report won't be as technical, so they need a concise laymen's explanation that they can use to take next steps.