What is the best way to interpret the results of a vulnerability scan and penetration test?

Human intervention and analysis of the scan results is a most. Identification of false positives will really reduce the efforts of the implementation teams. Especially when the results are received from the 3rd party service providers, the internal organizational team's shall mandatorily review the appropriateness of the scan results to the status of the current infrastructure.

When reviewing vulnerability scan results, confirm if vulnerabilities are indeed exploitable and if the reported risks are accurate. Some findings may be false positives.

Consider the findings of vulnerability scans and penetration testing to be a health check for your applications. When you do a scan with automated tools it may give false positives, but if there's human intervention i.e., manual testing there are zero chances of false positives. An external pentesting professional use a hybrid approach using both automated and manual testing. A third-party penetration testing guarantees zero false positive reports and remediation support. They also provide a security certificate which you can show as proof.

An important factor to consider in many vulnerability scanners is the settings related to superseded updates. For example, those relating to Microsoft products. It's a good idea to set the necessary options to hide missing updates that have been superseded by other updates. Otherwise, your reports may be excessive and inaccurate when presenting findings.

When reviewing vulnerability scan results, prioritize based on severity, impact, and exploitability, while also validating for false positives. Proceed with systematic remediation, adhering to best practices and documentation, to bolster network and system security effectively.

A penetration test or pentest is like a security check for applications and networks. Here, instead of using only automated tools, a person (an ethical hacker) tries different ways to gain access, just like a real hacker might. The results give you a detailed report showing not only where your applications are weak but also how someone could actually gain access unethically. With this information, you can fix important issues and make your applications more secure where needed.

Penetration testing, in contrary to vulnerability assessment or vulnerability scans can have a different scope. The results represent a coordinated effort of the pentester who combined various techniques, vulnerabilities and exposures into specific finding. Results should be interpreted according to the methodology using which the penetration testing was performed, thus providing much complex information when comparing to a vulnerability scan. Assessment of the results comes then hand in hand with risk assessment results, risks will be reevaluated, recommendations and remediations follow.

The results can only be as good as the scope, so make sure the scoping is focused on what matters to the organisation, i.e. what generates revenue and/or could cause reputation damage if stolen or manipulated.

Penetration testing, often referred to as pen testing, is a critical component of a robust cybersecurity strategy. This process involves simulating cyberattacks on a system, network, or application to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses that malicious actors could exploit. The results of a penetration test offer valuable insights into the security posture of an organization and help in making informed decisions to enhance cybersecurity defenses. PT results include below points. Vulnerability Identification, Real-World Threat Simulation, Risk Assessment, Compliance and Regulations, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Improvement in Security Awareness, IR Preparedness, Third-party Risk Assessment, Long-term Security Strategy, Stakeholder Confidence.

I believe it gives us a sneak peek into how real-world adversaries might exploit those vulnerabilities. It's like a dress rehearsal for the big show, helping us fine-tune our defenses.

Vulnerability scans and penetration tests are both important tools in assessing and improving an organization's cybersecurity, but they serve different purposes and provide distinct types of results. Here's a comparison of vulnerability scan results and penetration test results: Purpose, Depth of Analysis, Automation, Type of Results, Real Time Simulation, Actionable insights, Frequency. In summary, VA scans and PT serve different roles within a cybersecurity program. VA scans are automated, provide a list of known vulnerabilities, and are suitable for routine maintenance. PT, by contrast, are more in-depth, simulate real attacks, and offer a comprehensive view of an organization's security posture.

In my view, when comparing vulnerability scan and penetration test results, it's like looking at a puzzle from two different angles - each perspective reveals a piece of the larger security picture.

A pentest or vulnerability assessment report should have the following components: Executive summary, Scope, Assessment methodology, Assessment findings & severity, Assessment recommendations, Assessment limitations Always have 2 types of vulnerability reports - an executive summary which is non-technical (which can be widely shared with internal teams and even potentially customers as well) and a detailed technical report (which is on a need-to-know basis and has limited circulation and restricted access)

A vulnerability scan might identify a potential vulnerability in a web application. A pen test could then be used to exploit this vulnerability to see if it is actually possible to attack the web application. A vulnerability scan might identify a large number of vulnerabilities in a network. A pen test could then be used to prioritize the vulnerabilities and to focus on the ones that are most likely to be exploited by attackers.

Vulnerability assessments scan the surface level finding the loopholes from where a hacker can exploit the applications and cause damage. The scanning tools can sometimes give false positives as well. Penetration testing is searching for in-depth vulnerabilities with the help of an experienced Pentesters.This manual test ensures zero false positives. Interpreting the results of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing is done with a detailed report by professional pentesters and acts as a guide for the developers to mitigate the issues. Reach out to Qualysec a professional and leading VAPT service provider that can give you better insights into interpreting the test results with a comprehensive and developer-friendly report.

Interpreting the results of a vulnerability scan and a penetration test is a critical step in understanding an organization's security posture and taking action to improve it. Below are insights on how to interpret the results of both types of assessments: Interpreting VA Scan Results: Review the List of Vulnerabilities, Severity Assessment, Cross-Reference with Known Vulnerabilities, False Positives, Prioritization, Recommendations and Remediation, Re-Scan and Validation. Interpreting PT Test Results: Review the Testing Process, Successful Exploits, Impact Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, Recommendations for Mitigation, False Positives, IR Evaluation, Long-Term Security Strategy, Re-Test and Validation, Documentation and Reporting.

Consider the false positive rate. Vulnerability scanners and penetration testers can sometimes identify vulnerabilities that are not actually exploitable. It is important to consider the false positive rate of the tools and methods used to identify vulnerabilities. Assess the exploitability of vulnerabilities. Not all vulnerabilities are created equal. Some vulnerabilities are easier to exploit than others. It is important to assess the exploitability of vulnerabilities when prioritizing them.

Both vulnerability scans and penetration tests can yield false positives and false negatives. A false positive is when the tool flags something as a vulnerability when it isn't, while a false negative is when it misses an actual vulnerability. Understanding and filtering out these inaccuracies is a vital part of interpretation.

Penetration testing & vulnerability assessment involve discovering and exploiting vulnerabilities upto a pre-defined scope. Ensure you communicate this to the relevant teams (like CSIRT, so that alerts dont get triggered). Exclude DoS attacks and other severe attacks which might disrupt normal business operations. Prepare a pentest report with the scope, systems and hosts tested, list of test cases, vulnerabilities discovered and severity of risk. The follow-up action from this report is to open JIRA tickets for tracking and remediation of identified vulnerabilities.

Due to the inherent limitations of both vulnerability scans and penetration tests, you should continue thinking outside these boxes with a more wholistic and realistic eye toward what measures should and could be best implemented to most optimally improve the overall posture of the organization. Such measures may or may not show up in these two sorts of activities/reports.

Both penetration testing and vulnerability scanning are great tools in your cyber arsenal, especially when identifying and documenting the threat landscape of your organisation. Be mindful, however, that results don't always give you a simple black and white action plan. Instead, the results should be used as references for cybersecurity improvements where changes are reasonable, deliverable and fit into the overall posture you are trying to achieve. It's also a good idea to discuss findings with your team, MSP or even other organisations (where permitted) to see their interpretations and where you can improve as a collective effort.