Security News > 2023 > March > Pen Testers using Vulnerability Scanners – Closing the Gap
It's common for organizations to feel compelled to cut costs by exchanging their pen testers for scanners.
Traditionally, most businesses have tested their network and application security through pen testing; pen testing can theoretically be performed by red teams internal to an organization but is typically outsourced to contractors in practice.
Penetration testing does have multiple advantages that it holds over automated vulnerability scanning: it includes annual testers like those at Outpost24 who guarantee zero false positives and can leverage attack vectors that a real-life threat actor would use.
A direct comparison of pen testing with automated scanning tools only concerns dynamic application security testing tools, or DAST, since static security testing tools require source code access, which is typically unavailable to penetration testers.
The downside? Automated scans can't locate logical errors the same way manual pen testers can, and they commonly flag false positives that may outweigh the benefits that come with at-scale automated security testing.
With application pen testing as a service, you can pair automated scans with manual pen testing for real-time security vulnerability and logical error identification.