VAPT services
VAPT, without the
scanner dump.
Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are two different jobs, and most VAPT vendors only really do the first one. We run the assessment for coverage, then spend the majority of the engagement proving which of it is actually exploitable.
A four hundred page scanner export is not a deliverable.
If your last VAPT report was mostly generated, you paid for a tool licence and a logo. The value is in the part that cannot be automated: someone deciding which of those findings chain together, exploiting them, and telling you which three to fix on Monday.
Assessment finds it.
Testing proves it.
Both matter, for different reasons. Buying only one is the most common mistake in this category.
| Vulnerability assessment | Penetration testing | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Breadth. Find everything that might be wrong | Depth. Prove what an attacker can actually do |
| Method | Automated scanning plus manual validation | Manual exploitation and chaining, by an operator |
| Output | A validated inventory of weaknesses | Working attack paths with evidence and impact |
| False positives | Removed by hand before you see them | None by definition, a finding is proven or it is not reported |
| Answers | What is our exposure surface | What would a breach actually look like |
Seen in the field
What it looks like
in practice.
An illustrative example of the class of issue this engagement is built to find, and what changes after it.
Illustrative example, not client data
BeforeRaw scanner output
# what the tool handed over CRITICAL TLS 1.0 supported (x212) CRITICAL Missing X-Frame-Options (x188) HIGH jQuery 3.4.1 outdated (x96) HIGH Cookie without SameSite (x74) ... # 612 findings, no exploitation, no context
AfterAfter operator triage
# what survives verification CRITICAL IDOR, order API exploited, PoC HIGH Stored XSS, admin exploited, PoC MEDIUM SameSite, session chains with above # 3 findings that matter, each proven, # in the order they should be fixed
This is the whole difference. A scanner counts patterns and cannot tell you which ones an attacker can actually use. Triage is a person deciding what is real, exploiting it to prove it, and discarding the rest. You should be paying for the second column.
What a real VAPT
engagement includes.
Scoped across whichever of these apply to you. Most clients start with applications and external network.
01
External and internal network
Perimeter exposure, then the internal estate from an assumed foothold, including Active Directory attack paths. Method.
02
Web applications and APIs
Authorization, business logic, injection and token handling across every role. Method.
04
Cloud and containers
Identity and permission review in AWS or Azure, plus Kubernetes and CI/CD exposure. Method.
05
Configuration review
Hardening baselines, patch posture and service configuration on the systems in scope, checked against how they are actually deployed.
06
Validated reporting
Every finding triaged by a person, false positives removed, and impact written in terms your business owners can act on.
Scope your VAPT engagement.
Request a quoteEvidence auditors
accept.
VAPT is frequently bought to satisfy a framework. The report is written so it works as evidence without a second document.
SOC 2
SOC 2 Type II
Independent testing evidence with clear scope, dates, methodology and a retest confirming remediation, which is the part auditors most often push back on.
ISO 27001
ISO 27001 Annex A
Technical verification supporting A.8 and A.12 controls, with findings mapped to the control they inform.
PCI DSS
PCI DSS
Segmentation testing to prove the cardholder data environment is genuinely isolated, plus internal and external testing at the required cadence.
HIPAA
HIPAA and healthcare
Technical safeguard evaluation covering access control and transmission security, with data handling agreed before testing begins.
GDPR
GDPR Article 32
Evidence of regular testing and evaluation of technical measures, with the personal data exposure paths called out explicitly.
Customers
Customer security reviews
The version most clients actually need. A report you can hand to an enterprise buyer's security team without redacting half of it.
Questions
The usual
questions.
What does VAPT stand for?
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing. It is one engagement covering two distinct activities: finding weaknesses broadly, then proving which of them are genuinely exploitable.
Is VAPT the same as a penetration test?
Not quite. A penetration test is the exploitation half. VAPT bundles it with a broader assessment for coverage. If you only need proof of exploitability, buy the penetration test. If you need both breadth and depth, VAPT is the right shape.
Do you provide a VAPT certificate?
We provide a signed engagement letter, the full technical report, and a retest confirmation after remediation. That combination is what auditors and enterprise buyers actually accept. Be wary of anyone selling a certificate without testing behind it.
How often should VAPT be performed?
Annually as a baseline, and after any significant change: a major release, an infrastructure migration, an acquisition, or a new external integration. Some frameworks and customer contracts mandate a specific cadence.
How much do VAPT services cost?
It depends on scope, but the price is fixed before work starts. A focused application and external network engagement is the usual starting point. Give us the scope and you get a written number.
Scope your VAPT engagement.
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