Build trust with professional penetration testing reports

A penetration testing report is a comprehensive document that details the security weaknesses discovered during a simulated cyberattack. If you are wondering what to expect from a penetration testing report, it should go beyond a simple list of bugs.

A professional report includes specific penetration testing report sections:

→ an Executive Summary for business context
→ a Methodology section explaining the attack vectors
→ detailed Technical Findings with proof of concept.

Understanding this penetration testing report structure is crucial for translating technical risks into business decisions.

A high-quality pentest report must bridge the gap between technical findings and business strategy. Essential elements include:

→ an executive summary (for non-technical stakeholders)
→ a detailed testing methodology (outlining your testing process)
→ a list of identifying vulnerabilities with their risk score (often based on CVSS)
concrete remediation steps.

Additionally, a robust report should contain an appendix with technical evidence like screenshots, Nmap logs, or API request details to support remediation efforts by technical teams.

Learning how to write a penetration testing report that drives action requires balancing technical depth with business clarity. Penetration testing report best practices suggest that you fit the content to your audience - executives need risk impact, while developers need reproduction steps.

Segev Eliezer - “Clients typically skim through attack narratives in penetration test reports”, so “a good penetration test report is concise and easy to read for the client”.

That’s why our pentest reports lead with an Executive Summary (answering "What is the risk to the business?"), followed by a Methodology (proving the validity of the test), and concluding with Technical Findings. Using our penetration testing reporting tool covers consistency in this structure, helping you communicate value effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

It depends on your goal. Vulnerability scans are automated checks that identify known security vulnerabilities across your network or web application. A penetration test (or pen test) goes further: it is a manual, goal-oriented simulation where penetration testers (or a red team) exploit those weaknesses to prove potential impact. While a scan gives you a list of bugs, a pentest provides a real-world assessment of your security posture, often required for PCI DSS or HIPAA compliance. Whether you need high-frequency automated scanning or deep-dive manual testing, we support both use cases with a flexible toolset designed to scale with your security requirements.

Interpreting a pentest report requires looking at both the risk score and the business context. Security professionals analyze the critical vulnerabilities first, meaning those that could allow potential impact like data breaches or system takeovers. 

Review the executive summary to understand the high-level business impact, then dive into the technical details to validate the functionality of the exploit. Finally, prioritize fixes based on the suggested mitigation strategies and remediation steps.

A comprehensive testing methodology typically follows five key stages:

1. Reconnaissance & enumeration: gathering intelligence (e.g., finding IP addresses, subdomains, or GitHub repos).

2. Vulnerability scanning: using tools to identify open ports and security risks.

3. Exploitation: attempting to breach security controls using methods like phishing, social engineering, or SQL injection.

4. Reporting: documenting findings in a clear report template.

5. Remediation: guiding security teams on fixing the issues.

Penetration testing services cover various scenarios. An external network pentest might target your firewall and IP address range to find exposed services. A web application pentest could focus on OWASP Top 10 issues like identifying vulnerabilities in an API. An internal penetration test simulates an insider threat, checking if an attacker with basic access can escalate privileges. Social engineering tests might assess if employees fall for phishing emails. All these examples aim to validate your security controls against real-world attacks.

Yes. We provide specialized, out-of-the-box templates for web application penetration testing reports and network penetration testing reports. Additionally, because our templates are fully customizable, you can easily adapt the network template to create a specific internal penetration testing report or a specialized SOC report for penetration testing. This flexibility ensures you have the right reporting framework for any engagement type.

Yes, and we go further than just static scores. For network vulnerabilities, our reports include standard CVSS scores and CVEs data, alongside EPSS and CISA KEV integration. For web findings, we use a Risk Score derived from Impact and Likelihood, since standard CVEs often don't apply to custom applications. You can fully customize these metrics to reflect your specific environment, aligning with our philosophy of contextual vulnerability scoring.

You can export findings into professional PDF, HTML, or DOCX formats and email them directly. This makes it easy to share comprehensive penetration test results or executive summaries with clients or executives who do not access Pentest-Tools.com.

Yes. Every report generated on Pentest-Tools.com can include an executive summary. Download a sample report to see how this section is crucial for cybersecurity communication, as it translates complex technical findings into high-level business risks. It provides a clear snapshot of your organization's security posture, so stakeholders understand the impact of security risks without getting lost in technical details.

Yes. We understand that professionals use a varied toolkit. You can import findings from external tools like Burp Suite right into Pentest-Tools.com. This allows you to combine third-party data, human-led insights and findings, and our automated results data into a single source of truth for your engagement.

Absolutely. Our product supports the creation of both vulnerability assessment and penetration testing reports (VAPT report), which combine broad automated scanning with deep manual exploitation evidence. Additionally, if you are preparing for an audit, you can structure your findings to support a SOC report for penetration testing, helping you demonstrate due diligence and compliance to auditors.

Yes. While automation handles the heavy lifting, you retain full control. By exporting reports in DOCX format, you can easily refine the tone, inject custom consulting advice, and polish the formatting to align perfectly with your company’s style before final delivery.

In a business context, a VAPT report (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing) offers the best of both worlds: the broad coverage of a vulnerability scan and the depth of a manual penetration test. Pentest-Tools.com supports this hybrid model, allowing you to deliver comprehensive security assessment reports that satisfy both compliance auditors and security officers.

Absolutely. You can fully brand your reporting assets with your own logos and domain. This allows you to present a polished, proprietary penetration testing report that reinforces your expertise, experience, and unique insight. We offer custom plans for MSSPs with specialized requirements - contact us for custom pricing.