Understanding Your Penetration Test Report: A Guideline
In the digital age, understanding the results of a penetration test (pen test) is crucial for businesses to safeguard their systems and data. For non-cybersecurity professionals, interpreting a pen test report can seem daunting, but focusing on key sections can make the process manageable.
Starting with the Executive Summary, this section offers a straightforward explanation of the test findings, highlighting the most significant vulnerabilities and their potential consequences. By understanding the business implications of these issues, you can grasp why they matter.
Next, review the Key Findings and Risk Ratings. These sections help prioritise actions by using standardised risk scores, such as CVSS, to rank vulnerabilities according to severity. This allows you to allocate resources effectively, addressing the most critical issues first.
While the technical details might seem overwhelming, understanding the Scope and Methodology (briefly) can provide valuable context. Knowing which systems and applications were tested and any limitations helps you appreciate the report's completeness.
For specific issues, delve into the Vulnerability Details. These sections explain the nature of each vulnerability, how it can be exploited, and often provide suggested fixes. Although technical, these details offer practical remediation advice for IT or security teams.
To take action, share the Executive Summary and Key Findings with your IT or security team. Prioritise remediation based on the highest-risk vulnerabilities, and request clear, actionable plans and timelines from technical staff. Monitor progress on fixes, and consider updating policies or training to address root causes. Lastly, plan for regular pen tests to track improvements.
Remember, non-technical readers need not delve deeply into technical details but should use the report to understand business risks, support informed decisions, and collaborate with technical experts for effective implementation.
A common recommendation is to update the Apache version to X.X.XX to resolve an issue. Critical flaws, recurring issues, and major gaps should be noted in the Executive Summary. It's essential to tackle the most urgent findings first, creating tasks to address them.
While medium and low-rated issues might seem less pressing, they can potentially lead to larger problems. The severity rating depends on the context; for example, a medium-rated issue on a payment system is no longer "medium" in severity.
In conclusion, focus on the business-impact summaries first, use risk ratings to prioritise, leverage remediation recommendations, and collaborate with technical experts for implementation. This approach ensures the pen test report drives effective security improvements even without deep cybersecurity expertise.
Sources: [1] [core.cyver.io](http://core.cyver.io) [2] [July 23, 2025] [3] [Cybersecurity for Non-Experts] [4] [Penetration Testing Basics] [5] [Understanding Pen Test Reports]
- In the Executive Summary, it's essential to note the urgent findings, such as the common recommendation to update the Apache version, as these can pose significant business risks and require immediate attention.
- When reviewing the Key Findings and Risk Ratings, it's important to understand that medium and low-rated issues, while initially seeming less pressing, can potentially lead to larger problems, especially when they occur in critical systems like payment systems, where they would significantly increase in severity.
