Pentest Expectations

Now that you’ve done all the work needed to set up a pentest, you might be anxious for results. Here’s what you can expect:

1. Once you’ve finished setting up a pentest, select Pentests in the left-hand pane. You should see your pentest listed, with an In Review label.

2. We’ll select the best available testers before the start of the pentest. The time we need depends on your PtaaS tier and any special requirements you have.

3. Once we start the pentest, you’ll start getting updates from pentesters:

   • On the Pentester Updates tab of the pentest page
   • In a Slack channel dedicated for your pentest where you can communicate with pentesters. You should see a link to the Slack channel on the pentest page next to the pentest status.
     • Add the colleagues of your choice to the Slack channel. Choose colleagues who can benefit from direct communication with our pentesters.
     • As soon as we’ve moved your pentest from In Review to Planned, you’ll see your pentesters in the Slack channel.

4. You may get questions from your pentesters. You can also elaborate on your requirements for the pentest.

   • You’ll get in-app and email notifications for each update from pentesters.

5. As our pentesters analyze your asset, they’ll add updates frequently. If they discover vulnerabilities (“findings”), you can start remediating before the pentest is complete.

   Here’s an example finding as discussed in a Slack pentest channel.

   

   Note

   As our pentesters share the vulnerabilities they find in “real-time,” you can start remediating your code before you see a pentest report.

6. Once the pentest is complete, we move your pentest from Planned to Remediation.

7. You can start assessing all discovered vulnerabilities. In the Cobalt app, navigate to Pentests. Select your pentest, and navigate to the Findings tab.

   • Scroll down until you see Activity. Depending on your assessment, you can set the finding to one of the following states:

     • Pending Fix, when your developers are remediating the finding.
     • Ready for Retest, assumes that your developers have fixed the issue, and you’re ready for our pentesters to validate your fix. Retesting may depend on your PtaaS tier.
     • Accepted Risk, when you’ve determined that the finding is either not critical, or is beyond your control. For more information, see the following blog post on Accepted Risk.

8. We keep the Slack channel open until you’ve set each finding to:

   • Accepted Risk
   • Fixed
     Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or support@cobalt.io if you need access to the archived Slack channel.

9. If you’ve purchased a qualifying PtaaS tier, you can customize your pentest report. However, we report all findings. For more information, see Customize Your Pentest Report.

10. Based on your Service Level Agreement, our pentesters then share a formal report. You’re welcome to download this sample test report (PDF) for a web app.

Our Pentest States page includes more information about each pentest state, including Draft, In Review, Planned, Remediation, and Closed.