Imagine a scenario when a threat actor finds a tiny crack in your cloud network. The gap is just big enough to sneak in and cause chaos in the ecosystem. They expose the sensitive data of users. Your brand reputation is tarnished. The sad part of the entire episode is there are no alarms, no warnings – until the data breach takes place.
This is where VAPT, or Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing, comes in. It empowers businesses to detect and plug security gaps before cybercriminals attack.
With cyber threats rising and compliance burden increasing, businesses are turning to VAPT services. But choosing the right provider has always been a tricky part.
In this blog, we’ve handpicked the top 10 VAPT companies in India to help you make an informed choice.
Why VAPT Matters in Indian Market
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) is crucial to keeping digital assets secure. As digital consumption is increasing, cyber threats like data breaches, ransomware attacks, phishing, SQL injection, and man-in-the-middle threats from insiders have emerged as serious security concerns. Below data points indicate the seriousness of the matter:
- India faces 1248 cyberattacks per week in 2023,which is 18% more than the last year, as per the Check Point research.
- According to a CloudSEK’s threat intelligence report, India is the second most targeted country globally in 2024
The above data points underscore the importance of VAPT services for Indian companies.
Cybersecurity Challenges in India
Recent high-profile incidents, such as breaches at AIIMS, BharatPe, and the Swachh City platform exposed millions of sensitive data records. Meanwhile, new threats like deepfake-driven scams, fishing attacks, cryptocurrency frauds, and AI-powered cyberattacks highlight the evolving sophistication of risks.
These incidents underscore systemic gaps in the cybersecurity landscape. Below, we have presented a list of cybersecurity challenges faced by Indian companies:
- The digital landscape has witnessed tremendous expansion without caring much for security aspects. For example, fast cloud adoption and data center expansion has created numerous security gaps, such as misconfigured servers and weak infrastructure.
- Indian cyber response is mostly reactive rather than proactive. As a result, there are issues related to strategy and resource allocation.
- There is an acute shortage of cybersecurity professionals in India. Around 40% Indian cybersecurity teams are understaffed and they lack critical skills in cloud security and threat detection.
- Key sectors in India, such as power grids, banking, transport, healthcare, and finance face significant risks as they are based on outdated security protocols.
Regulatory Requirements in VAPT Adoption
Indian authorities have realized the importance of protecting digital assets. They have taken significant steps in this direction. Government has established regulatory cybersecurity frameworks that enforces VAPT standards. In addition, there are sector-specific regulatory guidelines. Below, we have presented three most important regulatory standards:
- SEBI’s Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework (CSCRF): It mandates annual VAPT assessments for SEBI regulated entities.
- RBI’s Cyber Security and Information Technology (CSIT) Guidelines: It mandates regular vulnerability assessments for financial institutions to strengthen cyber resilience.
- IT Act & Personal Data Protection Act: It imposes periodic VAPT assessments to align with evolving data security obligations.
These regulations strictly stipulate the use of CERT-In empanelled auditors for evaluation. It encourages following globally recognized standards like GDPR, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001.
Key Industries Benefiting From VAPT Services
VAPT not only improves cybersecurity posture but also strengthens India’s defense against evolving cyber threats. It protects digitized industries, especially privacy-sensitive financial and healthcare sectors.
BFSI and healthcare sectors use VAPT to protect sensitive customer data, privacy, and maintain trust. E-commerce platforms can use VAPT to safeguard transactions and user information, while telecom companies are using it to protect critical communication networks.
How to Choose the Right VAPT Provider
Selecting a VAPT service provider in India is not as easy as it seems, especially when every provider makes similar offerings. You need to consider several factors, including:
Skill and Experience
Expertise matters while choosing the right provider. Carefully evaluate VAPT provider’s industry experience, the number of successfully completed projects, size, and type of companies served.
In addition, businesses need to pay special attention to domain-specific capabilities related to your sector, their offensive testing capabilities, and tools they use for VAPT execution.
Certifications
A good way of evaluating expertise is to look for professionals with recognized security certifications, such as Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN).
Additionally, CERT-In empanelled VAPT service providers offer more robust regulatory compliance. Such certifications indicate the depth and quality of VAPT services offered by the company.
Methodology
Testing methodologies and tools impact the quality of VAPT services offered by a company. Therefore, evaluate the testing methodologies. It can be in the following two ways:
- Carefully analyze whether the methodologies align with the industry in which you operate.
- Try to assess whether their approach includes vulnerability assessments followed by real-world exploitation testing.
Reporting and Compliance
- Make sure that the company in consideration provides a thorough, granular, and actionable report. It clearly outlines detailed vulnerability findings, prioritizes risks, and suggests sufficient remediation measures.
- Reports must address relevant regulatory requirements and industry-specific compliance standards.
Customization And Scalability
- Carefully assess the provider’s capacity to adapt services to your specific security challenges and business requirements.
- The provider should be able to scale its offerings and adjust to new threats and technologies.
Cost-Value Balance
Choose a VAPT provider whose pricing structure aligns with your budget. Your approach should be to select the provider that offers maximum value. Avoid selecting the lowest cost option as quality testing comes with a price.
List of Top 10 VAPT Companies in India
Selecting the best VAPT service provider can be challenging as it can be very subjective. Below, we have meticulously curated a list of top 10 VAPT companies:
1. SecureLayer7
SecureLayer7 (SL7), headquartered in Pune, is a leading VAPT services company in India. It specializes in a wide range of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing services. Its VAPT offerings include cloud, IoT, application, API, source code audit, and network testing.
It uses a combination of automated and manual vulnerability scanning. Backed by a highly experienced team of certified pentesters, it delivers quality VAPT services to both enterprises and SMEs. SecureLayer7 adopts a comprehensive approach through meticulous scanning, exploitation, and reporting.
Post exploitation, SecureLayer7 provides a detailed VAPT report consisting of an executive summary, attack narrative, list of vulnerabilities found, risk score, and actionable remediation measures.
Pros:
- Comprehensive VAPT offerings that includes cloud, networks, API, web & mobile App, IoT penetration testing
- Powerful PTaaS (Pentesting-as-a-Service) platform
- CREST and SOC 2 certified
- Helps organizations in OWASP, NIST, HIPAA, PCI-DSS compliance
- 24×7 continuous customer assistance for troubleshooting and guidance
Cons:
- Pricing information is not clearly available.
2. Astra Security
Astra Security is a reputed VAPT service provider in India. It offers a combination of automated and manual penetration testing. Being a Cert-In empanelled security auditor, it offers auditing services to worldwide clients. Its advanced dashboard allows users to view scan results easily.
Pros:
- Integrates seamlessly with JIRA, GitHub and Slack
- Helps in compliance with all major regulatory standards, including PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR
Cons:
- Manual penetration tests available only in the highest-tier plan
- Relatively expensive pricing plans
- Limited 1-week trial is available
3. Qualysec
Counted among the leading VAPT companies in India, Qualysec Technologies specializes in web, mobile, API, cloud, IoT, and AI/ML penetration testing. Qualysec uses a blend of manual and automated tools, and proprietary technologies to serve its clients. Qualysec’s approach helps businesses stay secure and resilient against evolving cyber threats. It offers customized VAPT services for businesses of all sizes and nature.
Pros
- CEH, OSCP certified security experts
- Detailed, actionable reports with clear remediation and reproduction steps
- Compliance support for ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, NIST, etc
Cons:
- Pricing info not available
4. eSec Forte
Being CMMi Level 3 certified, eSec Forte is counted among the best VAPT companies in India. Offering a wide range of services from vulnerability assessment, pentesting, and compliance to incident response, eSec Forte serves clients ranging from government PSUs to startups. It’s best suited for red team assessment.
Pros:
- Robust incident response capability
- Compliance specific support for PCI-DSS, ISO 27001 and CERT-In
- Offers forensic analysis and incident response
- Compliance focused penetration testing
Cons:
- Higher initial set up cost
5. Indusface
Indusface is counted among leading DAST-specific VAPT companies in India. It provides vulnerability scanning for web applications, cloud environments, bots, DDoS mitigation, and APIs. Indusface offers a fully managed application security solution designed to protect against DDoS attacks, bot-related threats, and zero-day vulnerabilities.
Pros:
- Advanced scanning capabilities to detect shadow IT
- Offers manual and automated scans
- Provides compliance-specific scanning options
Cons:
- Less granular reports
- Relatively unintuitive UI
6. Suma Soft
Suma Soft is a reputed VAPT service provider offering in-depth vulnerability assessment and penetration testing services, which includes, network, mobile apps, web apps, IoT devices, and cloud applications. It has an experienced team of CEH, CM WAPT, and OSCP certified professions.
Pros:
- Cert-in empanelled
- Both manual and automated testing
- Known for web and mobile app testing
Cons:
- No upfront pricing available
- Limited offerings
7. HiCube
Headquartered in Jaipur, HiCube is a leading VAPT company known for niche government clients, such as Indian Army, law enforcement organizations, MP police academy, IGP cyber cell. In addition, it offers cybercrime consultancy and training services.
Pros:
- Best suited for manual penetration testing
- Comprehensive VAPT offerings
Cons:
- Compliance pentest not available
8. Appsecco
Appsecco is a reputed VAPT company in India known for service offerings for cloud and application security. Its USP lies in offering customized solutions for startups and SMEs.
Pros:
- Provides domain expertise in cloud, application, and product security
- Offers consulting services on threat modelling, breach analysis and compliances
- OSCP and CREST certified team
Cons:
- Limited offerings
- VAPT pricing starts from $3500 USD, which may not be suitable for SMEs.
9. Kratikal
Kratikal is a CERT-In empanelled security auditor. It offers both automated and manual VAPT services. Kratikal is SOC2 accredited and its USP lies in helping businesses to meet a wide range of global compliances, such as SAR, SOC2, and PCI-DSS.
Pros:
- Comprehensive VAPT service offerings
- CREST, Lead Author,OSCP, CISA, and CEH certified team
- Uses proprietery advanced vulnerability scanning tools VMDR and AutoSec
- Strong automation testing expertise
- ISO 27001, SOC2, PCI-DSS, and SOC2 compliance testing
Cons:
- No clear upfront pricing
10. Cyberops
Cyberops Infosec, founded in 2016 and based in Jaipur, is a reputed cybersecurity company that specializes in Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) and cybercrime consultancy. Cyberops has a qualified team of security professionals certified with CEH and CompTIA Security certifications.
Being ISO 27001 certified, it is recognized for its expertise in incident response.
Pros:
- Expert services in cybercrime investigation
- Custom solutions to meet specific industry needs
- Cybercrime consultancy
Cons
- Limited VAPT offerings
Future Trends in VAPT And Cybersecurity
Cybercrimes are increasing and attackers are becoming smarter. Therefore, VAPT is also evolving to meet growing security challenges. Some of the important trends emerging in VAPT landscape include the following:
- Automation: Automated scanners now handle repetitive tasks like crawling web apps or probing APIs, freeing experts to focus on strategic analysis.
- AI/ML Integration: AI-driven tools are enhancing vulnerability detection, enabling faster, more accurate assessments, and predictive analysis of potential threats.
- Generative AI: Integration of LLMs has changed the game in VAPT by enabling automated vulnerability detection and advanced threat simulation.
- Proactive Threat Hunting: With integration of AI/ML and LLMs models, the focus of VAPT is gradually shifting from reactive to proactive.
Evolving Role of Continuous Security Assessment
A critical benefit of AI and ML in VAPT is that they can learn from past tests and attacks. The more data these systems are exposed to, the better they become at detecting new vulnerabilities. The process of constant learning guarantees VAPT services remain at the forefront, helping organizations prepare defense against new threats.
Final Thoughts
Selecting a right VAPT provider is critical to an organization’s overall security posture and compliance reporting. Partnering with a top-tier VAPT company can help in proactively identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities.
Additionally, improving cybersecurity posture is an investment in building a reputable brand in the long run as this can safeguard your company from costly data breaches in the future.
Cyber threats are constantly evolving–are you prepared? Our VAPT experts deliver penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and compliance solutions. Get in touch with us now.
