Modern pentesting approaches use independent security researchers working under strict NDAs and advanced software platforms to streamline the process. However, with many vendors focusing on other core security products and services, it’s important to make sure that the pentest offering you choose provides you both the trust, compliance, and verification you need and the findings you’d expect from skilled security researchers. The most common pentesting approaches include:
- Traditional Pentesting via Consultancies
- Traditional Pentesting as a Service (PTaaS)
- Community-driven Pentesting as a Service (PTaaS)
- Automated Pentesting
This blog will focus on community-driven PTaaS vs. traditional pentesting, and which pentest methodology is best for your organization based on unique goals and requirements.
What Is Traditional Pentesting?
Traditional pentesting refers to pentesting services delivered by professional service providers, primarily leveraging their in-house salaried pentesters or long-term contractors. This method encompasses both expansive consulting firms offering a wide spectrum of pentest services, as well as niche boutiques that focus on specialized pentesting domains. They generally follow a fixed schedule, spanning from one to two months, often with a preparatory phase of four to six weeks.
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What Is Community-driven PTaaS?
Community-driven PTaaS represents a modern evolution of pentesting, harnessing the collective expertise of a global community of vetted security researchers. Using a Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model, it provides immediate results and fosters enhanced communication, all powered by advanced platform capabilities.
This method not only adheres to regulatory mandates, but also cultivates a collaborative relationship between security teams, developers, and pentesters, leading to comprehensive security assessments and incremental improvements in the code security over time.
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Community-driven PTaaS vs. Traditional Pentesting
Effectiveness
In pentesting, effectiveness measures the impact of the testing process and outcomes, guaranteeing that the tests yield meaningful, actionable, and high-impact results. The elements addressed below underscore the depth, precision, and thorough nature of a modern pentesting alternative, ensuring a structured and methodology-driven assessment of an organization’s security posture.
Efficiency
In the context of pentesting, efficiency is not just about meeting objectives—it’s about doing so through coordinated, easily repeatable processes. Together, the components listed below assess whether the pentesting process, from procurement to results delivery and remediation, is streamlined, ensuring an integrated execution that optimizes both time and resources.
Value
Security leaders are challenged to showcase the value of pentesting against its cost. In evaluating community-driven PTaaS and automated pentesting, keep in mind that the impact of each pentesting method varies based on its application, the caliber of expertise involved, and the precise goals underpinning the test objectives.
When evaluating community-driven PTaaS against the traditional pentesting model, community-driven PTaaS emerges as a standout solution. It’s a flexible approach tailored to meet an organization’s unique requirements and is competitively priced. Community-driven PTaaS is the premier choice for comprehensive testing combined with in-depth analysis, all while ensuring a swift setup and completion of the assessment.
The Power of PTaaS With HackerOne
HackerOne Pentest transcends routine compliance checks, delivering in-depth insights, efficiency, and actionable results tailored to your business and security needs. If you’re ready to learn more about how community-driven PTaaS measures up against other pentesting methodologies, download the eBook: The Pentesting Matrix: Decoding Modern Security Testing Approaches. Or, tell us about your pentesting requirements, and one of our experts will contact you.