From Findings to Fixes: How to Read and Leverage Penetration Testing Report

Like the right prescription after medical diagnosis is indispensable, so is a strong report after conducting a penetration test.

The testing process uncovers vulnerabilities, but if the findings are not clear, prioritised and actionable, security improvements will stall.

For business leaders like CEOs, CTOs and founders—understanding the structure and impact of a penetration testing report is absolutely necessary. Because it is a roadmap for risk reduction and a document that wins customer confidence. Plus, it helps in avoiding compliance-related penalties.

Understanding Penetration Testing Report

A pentesting report, simply put, is a document. It covers all the details one needs to know about the simulated cyberattack performed by ethical hackers on your digital infrastructure.

The pen test report covers everything, from vulnerabilities found and how they were exploited to what data or systems were exposed and—most importantly—how to fix them.

In short, the report reveals how healthy the security posture of your organisation is.

Types of Penetration Testing Reports

1. Internal Penetration Testing Report

This report is focused on risks from within your organization such as rogue employees, compromised devices and lateral movement after a breach. 

Key characteristics: 

• Tests from the perspective of someone with internal access. 
• Simulates insider threats or attackers who breach external defences 
• Explores privilege escalation, access control issues and segmentation flaws 

2. External Penetration Testing Report 

This report exposes threats coming from outside your network, which are typically from the internet. 

Key characteristics: 

• Focuses on public-facing assets: web apps, APIs, VPNs and cloud environments. 
• Identifies entry points a real-world attacker might use to gain access. 
• Often the first line of assessment for regulatory or customer-driven audits. 

Which pentesting report do you need?

Organisations benefit from both report types. External testing checks your perimeter while internal testing assesses the damage if that perimeter fails. 

Importance & Purpose of the Pen Test Report 

The criticality of a good penetration testing report in testing engagements cannot be stressed enough.  

Why do we say that?  

Because it helps in converting abstract threats into concrete, prioritised risks that your leadership, board and engineers can understand and act upon. For business leaders, it is often the only tangible output from an otherwise complex, technical process. 

Here, we throw more light on the benefits of penetration testing report: 

• Risk Communication Across Stakeholders
  Showing binary scan results to the business board does not work. At the same time, a pen test report, written in clear business terms, helps bridge that gap.
  For example, instead of saying “TLS 1.0 detected,” the report might say: “Outdated encryption protocol may allow attackers to decrypt sensitive customer data, violating GDPR requirements.”   
• Alignment of Priorities
  The report enables cross-functional teams like security, product and infrastructure to align around a shared roadmap for security fixes. Rather than chasing theoretical issues, the team can focus on real, proven attack paths. 
• Operational & Strategic Benchmarking
  With recurring pen tests (quarterly or annually), you can track whether your security posture is improving. Are vulnerabilities repeating? Is time-to-remediation improving? Are new features introducing new risks? 
• Regulatory Readiness & Legal Defence
  In the event of a breach, a documented penetration testing report shows that your company took reasonable steps to secure systems, potentially reducing legal liability or regulatory penalties. 

Consider this example: If your SaaS platform is undergoing ISO 27001 certification, a penetration test report may be the deciding document that helps auditors assess whether you meet Annex A controls related to vulnerability management.  

Or if your enterprise customer demands security assurance before signing a contract, the pen test report becomes the “proof” that your product is secure by design. 

As you can see, a pen test report empowers your business to make smarter, faster and informed decisions about where to focus, where to invest and how to stay secure.

Benefits of a Penetration Testing Report 

The real value of running the test comes to the fore after what you do with the testing report. Some of the benefits our experts have noted include: 

• Reduce risks proactively by fixing gaps before attackers find them 
• Demonstrates due diligence to customers, regulators and partners 
• Elevates internal alignment between engineering, security and leadership. 
• Benchmark security maturity over time by comparing periodic reports. 

For founders, such as report strengthens investor confidence. For CTOs, it sharpens your roadmap. And for CEOs, it turns a black-box technical exercise into a tangible business decision.

Key Components of the Report 

Here’s a deeper look at what should be included in the report:

1. Executive Summary

The report should summarize the test objectives, major findings and strategic recommendations in clear, concise and context-aware language. 

Look at this example:

“The test identified four critical vulnerabilities across customer-facing applications, including unauthenticated access to internal APIs. These findings pose a high risk to customer data confidentiality. Remediation is recommended within 14 days.” 

No acronyms, no technical jargon. But a clear statement of business risk.

2. Scope and Methodology

It details the systems tested (e.g., production web app, internal network, cloud workloads), the test type (black-box, white-box) and tools or frameworks used (e.g., OWASP, NIST, MITRE ATT&CK). 

Read our blog: Top 5 Penetration Testing Methodologies to learn more.  

Why this matters:

This assures that the test was methodical, structured and relevant to the organization’s real-world threat landscape. It also helps validate compliance requirements.

3. Findings with Risk Ratings

Each vulnerability should be fully described and ranked using a consistent risk scoring system (CVSS, likelihood vs. impact, etc.). 

Each finding typically includes: 

• Title (e.g., “SQL Injection on Login Form”) 
• Description (what it is and how it was found) 
• Affected Asset or Endpoint 
• Risk Rating (e.g., Critical, High, Medium) 
• Technical Impact (e.g., database access, remote code execution) 
• Proof of Exploit (e.g., screenshot, request logs, payloads) 

4. Business Impact 

This is where technical details are translated into tangible consequences. The report should explain what a successful exploitation would mean for the organization. 

Examples: 

• Loss of customer data may result in GDPR penalties and reputational damage.
• Denial-of-service vulnerability in the API could lead to service outages affecting SLAs.

This section helps decision-makers understand urgency and allocate resources accordingly. 

5. Remediation Guidance

Each issue should be detailed and include actionable fixes. This could be code-level recommendations, firewall rules, configuration changes or compensating controls.

6. Risk Summary Matrix

A heatmap or tabular overview showing how vulnerabilities are distributed by severity helps. Stakeholders could glance over it and gain insights. 

Example: 

7. Appendix

Supporting information such as: 

• Tools used  
• Raw output logs 
• Attack chains or kill chains 
• CVSS score calculation methodology 

This helps technical teams reproduce the findings and understand how they were derived

Tips to Create an Effective Pen Test Report

1. Insist on Clarity, Not Jargon
2. Demand Context, Not Just Lists
3. Prioritize Risks, Not Volume
4. Include Visuals
5. Make Remediation Actionable
6. Include a Remediation Timeline
7. Keep It Confidential but Shareable

Compliance Standards for Pen Test Reports 

Depending on the industry, penetration testing report is structured using different frameworks. Here’s a brief look at the major standards: 

• PCI DSS: Requires regular pentesting for systems that handle cardholder data. Reports must include test scope, methodologies and risk ratings. 
• SOC 2: Emphasizes risk management. A pen test report serves as evidence of control effectiveness. 
• ISO 27001: Penetration testing supports several control objectives under Annex A. 
• HIPAA: While it does not mandate pen testing, it encourages regular testing of technical safeguards. 

The report should align with auditors’ expectations.  

What Will You Get with CyberNX? 

Report Components 

• Executive Summary 
• Technical Findings 
• Remediation Support 
• Knowledge Transfer 
• Compliance Mapping & more. 

Conclusion 

Penetration testing report is a strategic document that highlights how well your business is protected and where you need to invest next. 

To customers, it shows you take security seriously. To engineers, it provides clear direction. To regulators, it proves you are doing your homework. 

If you are looking for penetration testing services, get in touch with our experts at CyberNX. 

FAQs 

Can a penetration testing report be shared with clients or investors?  

Many companies share sanitized or executive-level summaries of their penetration testing reports to demonstrate a commitment to security. However, never disclose full technical details unless under NDA. 

Can penetration testing reports be used in board-level risk discussions? 

Absolutely. A well-structured report translates technical vulnerabilities into business risk, which makes it a powerful tool during board reviews, budget planning and strategic decisions around cybersecurity investments.  

What should I do if the report reveals critical vulnerabilities right before a product launch?  

We recommend pausing. Launching with unresolved critical vulnerabilities could lead to breaches, reputational damage and customer attrition.  

What is a sample penetration testing report?  

Sample penetration testing report is an example showing typical report sections and findings, helping you understand what to expect. But real reports are customized to your systems and risks.