Compliance-first delivery
Offensive testing, actionable results
A vulnerability scan tells you a library is out of date; a penetration test tells you whether an attacker can actually get to your customer data. Too many reports deliver the first while promising the second — hundreds of pages of tool output with no context, leaving your engineers to work out which findings matter.
Our vulnerability assessment and penetration testing combines automated discovery with manual testing by experienced testers. Web applications and APIs are tested against the OWASP Top 10 and API Top 10, including business-logic and authorisation flaws that scanners miss; mobile apps against OWASP MASVS; and networks and cloud accounts against misconfiguration and privilege-escalation paths. Each finding comes with evidence, a realistic severity, and specific remediation steps. Testing can be run through SemperWise, our AI-first VAPT and compliance platform, which tracks findings through to closure.
You receive an executive summary, a detailed technical report and a debrief with your engineers, then a retest to confirm fixes. Reports are written to support audits for ISO 27001, SOC 2 and HIPAA, and slot directly into a wider security and compliance program or ISO 27001 readiness project.
- Web, API, mobile, network and cloud testing
- Manual exploitation, including business-logic flaws
- OWASP Top 10, API Top 10 and MASVS-aligned methodology
- Risk-ranked findings with developer-ready fixes
- Retest to confirm remediation
What's Included
Everything you need, delivered by a senior, security-first team.
Web & API Testing
Authenticated testing of applications and APIs, covering access control, injection and logic flaws.
Mobile App Testing
iOS and Android app and back-end testing against OWASP MASVS.
Network Testing
External and internal infrastructure testing, segmentation checks and service exposure review.
Cloud Configuration Review
AWS, Azure and GCP review of IAM, storage, networking and logging against CIS benchmarks.
Red Team Exercises
Goal-based adversary simulation to test detection and response, by agreement.
Report & Retest
Executive and technical reports, an engineering debrief and a retest of fixed issues.
What VAPT is and why both halves matter
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) combines two complementary activities. A vulnerability assessment uses automated scanners and configuration reviews to find known weaknesses broadly and quickly. A penetration test goes deeper: skilled testers manually chain weaknesses together, test business logic and authorisation, and show what an attacker could actually achieve. Scanners alone miss the flaws that matter most — broken access control, logic abuse and multi-step attacks.
Vulnerability assessment vs penetration testing
| Criteria | Vulnerability assessment | Penetration test |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Mostly automated scanning | Manual, attacker-style testing supported by tools |
| Finds | Known CVEs, missing patches, misconfigurations | Logic flaws, access-control bypass, chained exploits |
| Proof | Potential issues, some false positives | Validated findings with evidence and impact |
| Frequency | Continuous or monthly | Annually, and after major changes |
What we test
- Web applications — tested against the OWASP Web Security Testing Guide and OWASP Top 10, including authentication, session management, authorisation (IDOR), injection and business logic.
- APIs — REST and GraphQL, mapped to the OWASP API Security Top 10, with particular focus on object- and function-level authorisation.
- Mobile apps — iOS and Android against OWASP MASVS: storage, transport, reverse engineering and backend APIs.
- Cloud — AWS, Azure and GCP configuration reviews: IAM, exposed storage, network paths, logging and secrets.
- Networks — external perimeter and internal network testing, including Active Directory attack paths.
Testing approaches
Black-box testing simulates an outside attacker with no knowledge; grey-box testing provides user accounts and documentation, and gives the best coverage per day of effort for most applications; white-box testing adds source code and architecture access for the deepest assurance.
Our methodology
- Scoping — targets, environments, accounts, testing windows and rules of engagement agreed in writing.
- Reconnaissance and mapping — attack surface discovery, as practised in our Sentinel ReconLab library.
- Automated and manual testing — following OWASP, PTES and NIST SP 800-115 guidance.
- Exploitation and validation — safe proof-of-concept to confirm real impact, avoiding disruption.
- Reporting — executive summary, findings rated with CVSS and business context, reproduction steps and specific remediation guidance.
- Retest — we verify your fixes and issue an updated report.
What makes a pentest report useful
- Clear severity that reflects your environment, not just a scanner score.
- Steps to reproduce so developers can confirm the issue.
- Remediation advice specific to your stack, not generic links.
- An attestation letter you can share with customers or auditors.
Common pitfalls
- Buying an automated scan labelled as a “pentest”.
- Testing production without agreed windows, backups and contacts.
- Not retesting, so fixes are never verified.
- Testing once a year while deploying weekly — combine annual pentests with continuous scanning in your pipeline via DevSecOps.
Compliance and continuous testing
Penetration testing supports ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA and PCI DSS requirements; see ISO 27001 compliance and HIPAA, GDPR and SOC 2. For continuous, AI-assisted testing, our sister platform SemperWise offers VAPT and compliance on SemperWise One. Findings can feed straight into a broader security and compliance programme.
How a Penetration Test Runs
Scope
Agree targets, test type, credentials, rules of engagement and testing windows.
Test
Automated discovery plus manual exploitation, with critical issues reported immediately.
Report
Risk-ranked findings with evidence and remediation steps, walked through with your team.
Retest
Verify fixes and issue an updated report suitable for auditors and customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
A vulnerability assessment uses mostly automated tools to identify known weaknesses broadly. A penetration test uses skilled manual testing to exploit and chain weaknesses, test business logic and prove real-world impact. VAPT combines both.
At least annually, and after significant changes such as a major release, new infrastructure or an acquisition. Many frameworks and enterprise customers expect an annual test, ideally combined with continuous automated scanning.
By scope and effort: the number of applications, user roles, API endpoints, mobile platforms, cloud accounts or IP addresses determines the number of testing days. We send a fixed quote after a scoping call, and the retest of fixed findings is included.
Testing for a typical web application or API takes days rather than weeks; larger scopes take longer. The report usually follows within a few working days of testing finishing.
We agree testing windows, rate limits and contacts in advance, avoid destructive techniques and stop immediately if anything unexpected happens. Testing a staging environment that mirrors production is often preferable.
An executive summary, detailed findings with CVSS ratings, evidence, reproduction steps and remediation guidance, a retest report after fixes and an attestation letter for customers or auditors.
Ready to get started with VAPT Services?
Book a free consultation — we'll map a secure, practical path forward.