Penetration Testing mailing list archives
Re: Evaluating pentesters
From: Shohn Trojacek <trojacek () gmail com>
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 17:03:22 -0600
Tony, I'd say that similar to a job interview, you could ask them to tell "war stories" and then measure their hesitation and response time to detect BS. Of course, you don't want to mistake contemplation for hesitation, but this is generally an effective tool in any area. For example, you can call up a former employer and ask if they would hire that person again. The lack of a response can be more telling than an actual response at times. So essentially, the process is filter based on sample report, methodology, etc. This is basically like looking at someone's resume. Perhaps you could ask about certs, but then that may not mean anything either. Then once you have screened the Nessus repackagers, interview them placing an emphasis on war stories or perhaps describing a scenario and evaluating the thought process. If you issue an RFP and such, I imagine you could just bake this into the process depending upon your organization's contraints and such. Of course, I've found that often people request a "penetration test" and really want they want is exactly what you don't want. Often they just want a Nessus scan repackaged so that they can check whatever box they are required to. This comes back to defining what you want. I like to use the terms "creating management awareness of the depth of issues by demonstrating pro-longed and undetected access" in conjunction with breadth by perhaps requiring "cross-checks and verification of the results of scanning tools". Your mileage may vary and each situation is unique usually. Shohn On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 6:01 PM, Tony Turner <tony_l_turner () yahoo com> wrote:
Is there some kind of "Who's Who" of penetration testing firms? Right now my primary methods for evaluating potential firms for pentest engagements are requesting sanitized reports from past tests and asking questions about their methodology. Is there some resource online I might be able to use to locate quality testers? I've been burned in the past with some real bad ones.. I'm looking for network/systems/application/web/wireless from a PCI focused firm. Not so much interested in physical security and social engineering tests at this time but these services may be useful for future engagements. Also not interested in paying good money for someone else to just do a Kismet/Gpsmap or Nessus scan for me and hand me the scan data. Useful tools of course, but I've met a few idiots who thought that was what penetration testing was. I am in the SE United States. -- Tony L Turner CISSP, CISA, GPEN, GCIA, GSEC, VCP, ITIL-F ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This list is sponsored by: Information Assurance Certification Review Board Prove to peers and potential employers without a doubt that you can actually do a proper penetration test. IACRB CPT and CEPT certs require a full practical examination in order to become certified. http://www.iacertification.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------ This list is sponsored by: Information Assurance Certification Review Board Prove to peers and potential employers without a doubt that you can actually do a proper penetration test. IACRB CPT and CEPT certs require a full practical examination in order to become certified. http://www.iacertification.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current thread:
- Evaluating pentesters Tony Turner (Mar 08)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Tracy Reed (Mar 08)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters security curmudgeon (Mar 11)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters David Glosser (Mar 08)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Andre Gironda (Mar 08)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters aceinyaface (Mar 09)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Jason Ross (Mar 09)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Brent Huston (Mar 11)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Shohn Trojacek (Mar 09)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Rudra Kamal Sinha Roy (Mar 11)
- RE: Evaluating pentesters Frye, Dan (Mar 11)
- RE: Evaluating pentesters security curmudgeon (Mar 15)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Pete Herzog (Mar 17)
- RE: Evaluating pentesters Cor Rosielle (Mar 23)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Rudra Kamal Sinha Roy (Mar 11)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Tracy Reed (Mar 08)
- Message not available
- Fwd: Evaluating pentesters Daniel Hood (Mar 11)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Mohamed Farid (Mar 11)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Evaluating pentesters ben . dexter (Mar 11)
- Re: Evaluating pentesters Daniel Clemens (Mar 11)