How do I Communicate Pentest Results to Top Management and Customer as a CISO or IT Head
Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT) has been a key element in an organization’s cyber defense strategies, and reporting pentest results to C-level executives or your customers and clients has constantly been a challenge for CISOs and IT heads. In this article, we’ll dive deep into effectively communicating pen test results and gaining their confidence in your ability to keep the organization safe.
When it comes to performing vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT) or pen-testing and reporting the results, including findings, high-level summary of risks, and security recommendations, the expectations from senior management may vary from organization to organization. As a CISO, you must play the game carefully, avoid jargon, and use clear, concise language to communicate and highlight the information most effectively. Let us see how you can make the most out of it as a CISO, IT Head, or security professional.
CISO/ IT Head's Responsibilities and Importance of Communicating Pen-Testing Results to C-Level Effectively
It’s important to note that a pen testing report is not a one-size-fits-all document, and effectively measuring and communicating pen test results to board members is the job of the CISO, and it must be done with the utmost care. A lot goes on behind the scenes, so remember to document the gaps with recommended remediation actions and show what the organization has been practicing.
As a CISO or IT head, your responsibility will include communicating the identified risks and sharing the pen test results with the top management and customers to fine-tune the entire cybersecurity strategy of the organization. Communication is essential not just to report pentest results but also before you engage in a pen-testing exercise because the scope of the pen test will also demand considering legal and ethical aspects, business challenges, expectations, and other associated factors. Hence, it is essential for CISOs to take their senior executives and customers in confidence. When you communicate with them, make sure that your report and any communication are aligned with the impact of the risk identified during the pen test and the business objectives.
As a CISO or IT head, your responsibility will include communicating the identified risks and sharing the pen test results with the top management and customers to fine-tune the entire cybersecurity strategy of the organization. Communication is essential not just to report pentest results but also before you engage in a pen-testing exercise because the scope of the pen test will also demand considering legal and ethical aspects, business challenges, expectations, and other associated factors. Hence, it is essential for CISOs to take their senior executives and customers in confidence. When you communicate with them, make sure that your report and any communication are aligned with the impact of the risk identified during the pen test and the business objectives.
Challenges in Communicating Pen-Testing Results to C-Level
Communicating pen-testing results to the C-level is always going to be challenging because of their background, experience, and priorities. The type of board and the number of committee meetings conducted within the organization will highly influence the areas on which you base or plan your pen-testing exercise. Every topic discussed in these meetings can differ from what you discuss in an independent incident-driven meeting.
Reporting any recent security gaps, findings, vulnerabilities, or incidents within and outside the organization will always be challenging and must be addressed, keeping the entire business context in mind. The pen-test reports will thus play a key role in communication with regulators and authorities.
Amateur Pen testers can accidentally (or intentionally) expose infrastructure or application vulnerabilities that, if exploited, have the potential to compromise an organization’s capacity to defend and hence must be carefully communicated to not just the board or executive management but also to the development or support teams.
Reporting any recent security gaps, findings, vulnerabilities, or incidents within and outside the organization will always be challenging and must be addressed, keeping the entire business context in mind. The pen-test reports will thus play a key role in communication with regulators and authorities.
Amateur Pen testers can accidentally (or intentionally) expose infrastructure or application vulnerabilities that, if exploited, have the potential to compromise an organization’s capacity to defend and hence must be carefully communicated to not just the board or executive management but also to the development or support teams.
How Can I Effectively Communicate Pen-Testing Results to C-Level or Clients
There are some ways worth exploring and devising your report accordingly. Along with the core pen test information to be shared with the management (gaps, findings, recommendations, summary, etc.), they are as follows:
1. Current Cyber Security Risks
Conduct market research on the top industry-specific cyber security incidents relating to the findings in your pen-test report and highlight potential risks before the meeting, allowing the management some time to go through it. It is essential to make board members realize these cybersecurity risks are real and could impact the organization. Emphasize areas currently most vulnerable in the domain, evaluate current security measures, and outline new workflows to be implemented. Discuss the correlation of financial risks with cyber security incidents and emphasize the potential losses the organization could face.
It is critical to classify vendors according to their highest impact potential and determine the probability of cyber security events. Similarly, you must discuss third-party risks, and as a CISO, you should inform board members how adding new third-party vendors can increase the organization’s cyber security risk level.
It is critical to classify vendors according to their highest impact potential and determine the probability of cyber security events. Similarly, you must discuss third-party risks, and as a CISO, you should inform board members how adding new third-party vendors can increase the organization’s cyber security risk level.
2. Recent Security Incidents
Report any recent security incidents within and outside the organization. Document them and note the ones that occurred during the last quarter first. Highlight the most significant ones and map out what went right and wrong.
Answer questions like:
Answer questions like:
- How did the security team respond to said incident?
- What are your plans for managing similar future incidents?</li?
- What are the security measures you have implemented so far, in a nutshell?
- Enumerate the findings related to past and current security investigations.
- How adequate are the current security controls and processes, and are they helpful or not?
3. Results of Penetration Tests and Security Audits
Present your board members with your most recent penetration testing and security audit results. The results can show current gaps in security practices and highlight compliance violations. You can use these findings to improve your cyber security strategy and emphasize the importance of increasing security investments, such as involving a Cert-in Empanled Auditor for regulatory compliance needs or carrying out a comprehensive security audit. Also, mention your VAPT results. When presenting business metrics, showcasing trends and highlighting how they change over time is advisable. CISOs should prepare business presentations using visual aids, a mix of graphs, charts, data schemas, and diagrams. Also, avoid technical jargon and simplify the language in your reports as much as possible to communicate with stakeholders. ‘API Security Testing,’ for example, could be a common term pen-testers might be using, but it could be alien to C-level executives or board members.
4. Security Posture of Other Organizations in Your Business Domain
Compare your organization’s performance and security benchmarks with other organizations in your business domain. Be fully transparent about it and reveal the areas the organization lacks to board members. It’s essential to review the best security practices currently in use and highlight them so that they continue to be implemented. Remove what doesn’t work and help them understand if the organization’s cyber security posture is robust enough to deal with evolving threats.
5. Quantify Cyber Security Data
Seek assistance from your organization’s CFO and financial experts when quantifying financial cybersecurity data. Quantifying metrics can give board members insights into return on security investments or ROSI, revenues, and explain the business outcomes of taking certain cybersecurity risks. Your reports must mention non-compliance fines, losses caused by previous data breaches, and other critical information.
Once board members understand how the organization has struggled in the past, they will be more receptive to adopting better security measures and deploying tools to minimize insider threats. Keep the reports brief, and don’t make them too lengthy.
Be prepared to answer queries and respond to objections. For example, you may be asked questions such as:
Once board members understand how the organization has struggled in the past, they will be more receptive to adopting better security measures and deploying tools to minimize insider threats. Keep the reports brief, and don’t make them too lengthy.
Be prepared to answer queries and respond to objections. For example, you may be asked questions such as:
- What is the effectiveness of a particular incident response strategy?
- How are third-party vendor risks managed?
- What steps is the organization taking to adapt to the evolving threat landscape?
- How do security programs align with industrial regulatory guidelines and requirements?
6. Executive Summary and Summary of Findings
The executive summary of the report is vital. Good communication is the hallmark of establishing trust and cooperation between the senior management and the CISO. CISO should also coordinate with management or the client and ensure that all necessary approvals are obtained prior to conducting pen-test and that the tests are conducted in safe and secure environments. Peneto Labs offers comprehensive executive reports with detailed analysis of results that are tailored for C-level presentations focused on the strategic and business implications of any findings or gaps.
7. Critical Details to Add to Your Report
Penetration testing is not performed independently and involves various procedures, exercises, attack simulations, and other test cases. Thus, the tactics, tools, and techniques used during the test might not be of much importance to the executive level. However, they may be interested in knowing how the pen-testing results have impacted their risk universe. For CISOs, risk in context is a valuable metric to watch out for and include in the report that the senior management may be interested in. An appropriately crafted report can speak volumes about an organizations’s risk posture, network and application misconfigurations, security gaps or vulnerabilities, and more. At the same time, it could be a valuable tool to help the board and senior management make informed decisions.
Conclusion:
As a CISO or IT Head, your ability to communicate pentest results to top-level management and clients is crucial for maintaining a strong cybersecurity posture. A CISO must understand the board’s current priorities and expectations and present information accordingly at the meetings with the leadership. It is crucial to balance business and technology, maintain customer trust, and protect the organization’s reputation. The objective should be to ensure organizational safety by maintaining compliance with updated industry requirements, internal policies and procedures, and everchanging local and global data security and data privacy regulations.