The Top 5 Penetration Testing Service Companies

Every year, an increasing number of businesses fall prey to the rising sophistication of the modern cybercriminal and the increasing CVEs they effortlessly exploit. This issue worsened in 2022 when the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) received and analyzed an annual high of over 25000 new Common IT Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE).

At this juncture, a business encountering a potential system incursion is more likely an eventuality than a probability.

Employing an adept external service provider to conduct continuous penetration testing is now crucial for organizations to address vulnerabilities and fend off such intrusions.

This article explores the top penetration testing companies available today that can tremendously help improve your organization’s security posture and maintain compliance.

Top 5 Pentesting Companies

While there are irrefutable benefits to partnering with a pen testing company, you must select one based on the company’s capability to service your unique security and compliance requirements.

To help you decide on a strategic partner, we have broken down the top five market-tested penetration testing companies and what they offer to their customers.

1. SecureLayer7

SecureLayer7 is a state-of-the-art penetration testing service provider leveraging automated and manual testing techniques to enumerate and validate business logic flaws, security exposures, and misconfigurations. Its services include mobile applications, web applications, thick clients, and VOIP penetration testing. SL7 additionally helps businesses strengthen their cloud infrastructure with its AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Kubernetes penetration tests.

Services Offered

SecureLayer7 is an all-around penetrating testing solution that recognizes the importance of the human element to provide users with a robust combination of manual and automated penetration security solutions.

It provides its users with comprehensive protection offerings, including penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, mobile app security, network security, source code audit, web malware cleanup, telecom network security, SAP security assessment, and more.

Advantages

• Manual and automated penetration testing services are available, including application penetration testing, mobile application security, thick client application security, VoIP penetration testing, and on-demand penetration testing.
• AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Kubernetes cloud infrastructure penetration testing.
• Infrastructure security expertise, including server hardening, network security, wireless security assessments, firewall configuration review, and telecom network security.
• Security expertise services, including IoT device security, ransomware readiness assessment, website malware removal, SAP security assessment, and red team assessment.
• Round-the-clock vulnerability monitoring system.
• Daily Zero-Day vulnerability alerts.
• Provides knowledge-based support.
• Website defacement restoration service.

Disadvantages

• Clear pricing options unavailable on the website

2. GetAstra

Astra security is a commonly used penetration testing solution today, allowing businesses to test for over three thousand known vulnerabilities through automated and manual penetration tests.

Services Offered

GetAstra is a comprehensive penetration testing solution with numerous offerings, including automated and manual continuous penetration testing, security audits, vulnerability assessments, IT risk assessments, security consulting, website protection, and compliance reporting.

Advantages

• Automated and manual testing
• CI/CD integration
• Slack integration
• Minimal false positives
• Test reporting
• customer support.

Disadvantages

• Not many integration options
• No free trial to test the service’s suitability

3. Cobalt.io

Cobalt.io is a penetration testing platform headquartered in San Francisco, USA that follows six stages to remediate risks securely. Its services include APIs, mobile application, and internal and external network penetration testing.

Services Offered

Cobalt is a SaaS platform that caters to small, medium, and large organizations to perform efficient pentests while providing access to expert security professionals.

They specialize in pentesting for compliance, M&A due diligence, customer requests, new release testing, delta testing, single OWASP category testing, exploitable vulnerability testing, and microservice testing. Its pentests cover web applications, mobile applications, APIs, internal and external networks, and cloud services (GCP, AWS, Azure).

Additional services include Code review, Pentest program management, phishing engagement, red teaming, and IoT device testing.

Advantages

• Flexible on-demand plans
• Self-Service Platform
• Google OAuth 2.0 and 2FA support
• Seamless user experience with SAML-Based SSO allows users to log on to multiple web applications
• Detailed reporting with recommended fixes
• Real-time collaboration with expert pen testers via Slack
• Cobalt API for secure communications
• Free Retesting on the standard plan
• The premium plan includes customizable reports.
• Premium plan assigns users a dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM)
• The premium plan allows native Jira and GitHub integrations

Disadvantages

• Not many integration options
• Does not provide customers with a free trial to test the service’s suitability
• Pentesting requires a 2-3 business day waiting period to commence

4. Rapid7

Rapid7, a penetration testing, and vulnerability management software, company is headquartered in Boston, USA offers a range of services, including web application, mobile application, IoT,  social engineering, and wireless network penetration testing.

Services Offered

Rapid7 uses Metasploit for its pentests to cover web applications, mobile applications, and APIs. It includes services such as vulnerability management, vulnerability assessment, user behaviour analytics, IT operations, phishing simulation, and automation.

Advantages

• User-friendly interface
• Range of tools available running on distinctive frameworks for mitigating security threats
• Spotting website cloning attacks
• Provides instant phishing campaigns
• It helps detect obscure vulnerabilities
• Highly efficient and accurate threat intelligence

Disadvantages

• Reported customer usability issues
• Reported customer care issues with several users

5. Invicti

Invicti, formerly known as Netsparker, headquartered in London, is a multi-platform automated vulnerability scanner software that helps identify thousands of vulnerability variants, such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection. It offers continuous web application and web API penetration tests.

Services Offered

Invicti is a fully configurable automated web application security scanner that enables businesses to scan their web-based sites, applications, and services to identify any present security vulnerabilities.

By verifying the identified vulnerabilities, it has a higher accuracy rate when differentiating between true and false positives than most scanners.

Its primary focus is to conduct accurate penetration tests and security audits to identify and present all perceivable vulnerabilities and compliance issues to its clients.

Advantages

• Fully configurable web application vulnerability scanner
• Minimal false positives
• Interactive application security testing (IAST)

Disadvantages

• 2Factor and Multifactor authorization are not supported
• Slows down large applications during scanning
• Dedicated customer support, multiuser functionality, PCI compliance scanners, asset discovery services, and in-built vulnerability tracking tools are not available on the standard version

Get Complete Insights into Your Security Posture with SL7

SecureLayer7 helps customers spot high-risk business vulnerabilities such as authentication, authorization, and logic vulnerabilities that may result in data breaches.

Our PaaS services include application testing, mobile app penetration testing, thick client penetration testing, and VOIP penetration testing. We are renowned among enterprises and SME organizations that use our penetration testing application to perform and act on continuous pen tests.

We additionally help businesses securely maintain their cloud infrastructure by detecting and quarantining vulnerabilities in AWS, Azure, and Kubernetes systems at a reasonable cost.

Our network security service ensures that your corporate infrastructure complies with industry regulations and follows the best network security practices reducing the risk of attacks on devices and servers.

SecureLayer7’s server hardening feature limits attacker entry points by preventing them from gaining access through unsecured ports. Server hardening is done by disabling unnecessary services and blocking unutilized protocols and ports.

Contact us now to find out more about how we may be the only solution you need to keep your systems secure.

FAQ

How does a pen tester help mitigate the risk of cyber attacks within companies?

A pen tester helps mitigate the risk of cyber attacks within companies by proactively identifying vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications through simulated attacks. By uncovering weaknesses before they are exploited by malicious actors, pen testing allows companies to patch vulnerabilities and strengthen their defences, reducing the risk of successful cyber attacks.

How often should a company perform a pentest?

The frequency of pentesting depends on various factors such as the size of the company, the complexity of its systems, and the industry regulations it must comply with. In general, it is recommended to perform pentests at least annually, or whenever significant changes are made to the systems or applications being tested, to ensure ongoing security resilience.

How can pentesting influence the security of the system?

Pentesting influences the security of the system by identifying vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and misconfigurations that could be exploited by attackers. By addressing these vulnerabilities, companies can improve their security posture and reduce the risk of successful cyber attacks, safeguarding their critical assets and sensitive data.

How is pentesting used to improve network security?

Pentesting is used to improve network security by identifying vulnerabilities in network infrastructure, such as firewalls, routers, and switches. By uncovering weaknesses and misconfigurations, companies can implement appropriate measures to patch vulnerabilities, enhance access controls, and harden network defenses, strengthening overall network security.

Is IT legal to pentest without permission?

No, it is not legal to perform pentesting without permission. Pentesting without proper authorization is considered unauthorized access, which is illegal and can result in severe legal consequences. Companies must obtain written consent from the system owner or authorized party before conducting any pentesting activities to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.