Security & Compliance · Vulnerability Assessment · Penetration Testing

Find the Holes
Before the Attackers Do.

Most breaches don’t come from sophisticated attacks: they come from vulnerabilities that have been sitting in the environment for months. Unpatched systems. Exposed services. Misconfigured access. TechWise runs automated vulnerability scanning and manual penetration testing on a recurring cadence, so what’s exploitable gets fixed before someone exploits it.

Talk About Vulnerability Testing

Standalone or bundled in managed IT

● Automated scanning and manual penetration testing

● Compliance-mapped findings: HIPAA, CMMC, PCI-DSS, NIST

● Remediation validation after fixes are applied

● Trend analysis across scan cycles

Testing Cadence

Your Compliance Framework, Your Insurer,
and Your Risk Tolerance All Point to a Cadence.

Annual testing finds what’s wrong once a year. Monthly scanning finds what changed last month. The right cadence depends on your compliance requirements, your cyber insurance obligations, and your risk tolerance. TechWise scopes the cadence before recommending one.

Baseline

Quarterly Scanning.
Annual Pen Test.

→ Vulnerability scanning every quarter

→ Manual penetration test annually

→ Severity-rated findings report each cycle

→ Compliance-mapped output for audit evidence

→ Remediation validation after fixes applied

Right for companies building a compliance baseline: HIPAA, NIST CSF, or cyber insurance readiness. Entry-level compliance evidence for auditors and underwriters.

Enhanced

Monthly Scanning.
Quarterly Pen Test.

→ Vulnerability scanning every month

→ Manual penetration test every quarter

→ Trend analysis: what’s improving, what’s new

→ Compliance evidence for regulated frameworks

→ Remediation validation and tracking

Right for regulated industries: CMMC, PCI-DSS, HIPAA with active audit programs, and companies where cyber insurance underwriters require quarterly evidence. Recommended for active compliance programs.

Continuous

Continuous Scanning.
Quarterly Pen Test.

→ Automated continuous vulnerability scanning

→ Manual penetration test every quarter

→ Real-time vulnerability alerting

→ Continuous compliance evidence generation

→ Full trend analysis and remediation tracking

Right for high-risk environments, security-first organizations, and companies with board-level security mandates. Surfaces new vulnerabilities as they emerge, not weeks later.

Compliance Requirements

Your Compliance Framework
Already Requires This.

Virtually every compliance framework requires or expects some form of vulnerability testing. When a client identifies a compliance requirement, the VAPT conversation follows immediately. Here is exactly what each framework demands.

Framework Vulnerability Scanning Penetration Testing
PCI-DSS Required Required
CMMC Required Expected
HIPAA / HITRUST Expected by auditors Expected by auditors
SOC 2 Expected by auditors Expected by auditors
NIST CSF Expected by auditors Expected by auditors
Cyber Insurance Expected at renewal Expected, scope based on risk profile

TechWise delivers compliance-mapped findings, vulnerability scan reports and penetration test results tied directly to the specific controls your framework requires. The evidence package is built for auditors and underwriters, not just internal review. In the cyber insurance market, documented VAPT programs consistently result in better premium rates, higher coverage approvals, and fewer policy exclusions, underwriters treat active testing as evidence of a mature security posture, which directly affects both eligibility and cost.

What You Get

Findings That Tell You
What to Fix and in What Order.

A vulnerability report that lists everything with equal urgency is not useful. TechWise delivers severity-rated findings, a prioritized remediation roadmap, and compliance-mapped evidence, so the most critical issues get fixed first and the documentation is ready for whoever asks for it.

Vulnerability Scan Report

Severity-rated findings across the full environment.

Every identified vulnerability rated by severity and exploitability, not an undifferentiated list. Critical findings flagged for immediate remediation. Medium and low findings prioritized by risk impact.

Penetration Test Findings

What a real attacker could actually access.

TechWise engineers actively attempt to exploit identified vulnerabilities, documenting what was accessed, what was escalated, and what the real-world impact would be, not just a list of what could theoretically be exploited.

Remediation Roadmap

What to fix, in what order, with what priority.

Findings translated into a prioritized action list, sequenced by severity and compliance impact. Not handed off after the report. TechWise validates remediation after fixes are applied.

Compliance-Mapped Evidence

Findings tied to your specific framework requirements.

HIPAA, CMMC, PCI-DSS, and NIST CSF findings mapped directly to control requirements. The evidence package is structured for auditors and underwriters, not a generic security report.

Trend Analysis

What’s improving, what’s new, what keeps coming back.

Across scan cycles, TechWise tracks whether the environment is getting more secure over time, identifying recurring vulnerabilities, new exposures since the last cycle, and remediation effectiveness.

Remediation Validation

Confirmation that fixes actually fixed what they were supposed to.

After remediation is applied, TechWise validates that the vulnerabilities are closed, not assumed. Validation evidence is included in the compliance documentation package.

Types of Testing

Vulnerability Assessment vs. Penetration Testing.
Not the Same Thing.

These terms are used interchangeably in many contexts. They describe different activities with different outputs. Most organizations need both, in sequence.

Vulnerability Assessment

What Could Be Exploited.

Automated and manual scanning of your environment to identify known vulnerabilities: unpatched systems, misconfigured services, exposed ports, weak credentials, outdated software. The output is a severity-rated list of what exists and how serious each finding is. A vulnerability assessment tells you what is wrong. It does not prove what could actually be accessed.

Penetration Testing

What Could Actually Be Accessed.

Manual testing by TechWise security engineers who actively attempt to exploit identified vulnerabilities, the same techniques an attacker would use. The output documents what was actually accessed, what privilege escalation was possible, and what the real-world impact of a successful attack would be. A penetration test proves exploitability, not just theoretical risk.

Network Penetration Testing

External and Internal Network.

External network testing simulates an attacker approaching from the internet. Internal testing simulates a compromised endpoint or insider threat. Both are required for a complete picture of network exposure.

Application & Social Engineering Testing

Web Apps, APIs, and the Human Layer.

Application-layer testing targets customer portals, internal web applications, and APIs. Social engineering testing, simulated phishing campaigns and pretexting, measures whether employees would provide credentials or access to a convincing attacker. Both are expected by CMMC and most cyber insurance underwriters.

What to Expect

What a TechWise VAPT Engagement
Actually Looks Like.

Most organizations don’t know what to expect from a vulnerability assessment or penetration test. Every organization has attack surface that needs to be tested, email systems, cloud applications, remote access points, and third-party integrations are the most common entry points attackers exploit. Here is the engagement sequence from scoping to final report.

Step 01

Scoping

TechWise defines the scope of testing, what systems, networks, and applications are in scope, what’s explicitly excluded, and what rules of engagement apply. Scope drives timeline and cost.

Step 02

Reconnaissance & Scanning

Automated vulnerability scanning identifies known vulnerabilities across in-scope systems. Manual reconnaissance identifies exposed services, misconfigurations, and attack surface that automated tools miss.

Step 03

Active Exploitation

TechWise engineers actively attempt to exploit identified vulnerabilities, documenting what was accessed, what lateral movement was possible, and what the real-world impact would be. This is what separates a penetration test from a scan.

Step 04

Report & Remediation

Severity-rated findings report, prioritized remediation roadmap, and compliance-mapped evidence. TechWise validates remediation after fixes are applied, confirming the vulnerabilities are closed, not assumed.

Common Questions

Questions About Vulnerability Assessment
and Penetration Testing.

A vulnerability assessment identifies what weaknesses exist in your environment: unpatched systems, misconfigured services, exposed ports. A penetration test goes further: TechWise engineers actively attempt to exploit those weaknesses to determine what could actually be accessed by a real attacker. Most compliance frameworks and cyber insurance underwriters require both.

It depends on your compliance framework and risk profile. PCI-DSS requires annual penetration testing and quarterly vulnerability scanning. CMMC expects annual testing. HIPAA expects regular testing though not on a mandated schedule. Cyber insurance underwriters increasingly expect quarterly scanning and annual penetration testing at minimum. TechWise scopes the right cadence based on your specific requirements before recommending anything.

HIPAA does not explicitly mandate penetration testing but requires covered entities to conduct regular technical and nontechnical evaluations of security measures. OCR auditors consistently expect vulnerability scanning and penetration testing as evidence of an active security program. Healthcare organizations that have experienced breaches and had no testing history face significantly higher settlement exposure.

CMMC Level 2 requires organizations to conduct periodic assessments of security controls, which includes vulnerability scanning and penetration testing as expected evidence. CMMC Level 3 has more explicit requirements. For DoD contractors, the absence of documented testing is a significant gap during a CMMC assessment. TechWise handles VAPT as an integrated part of CMMC compliance engagements.

Cyber insurance underwriters are increasingly requiring documented penetration testing evidence as a condition of coverage. The specifics vary by underwriter and policy, but quarterly vulnerability scanning and annual penetration testing are the most common requirements. Some underwriters will not issue policies without recent testing evidence. Organizations with documented VAPT programs consistently see better outcomes at renewal, lower premiums, higher coverage approvals, and fewer policy exclusions, because underwriters treat active testing as evidence of a mature security posture. TechWise provides the compliance-mapped documentation package that satisfies underwriter questionnaires.

Timeline depends on scope. A focused external network penetration test for a mid-market company generally takes one to two weeks from kickoff to final report. A broader engagement that includes internal network, application, and social engineering testing may take three to four weeks. TechWise defines scope and timeline in writing before the engagement begins.

A properly scoped and executed penetration test should not cause material disruption. TechWise defines rules of engagement before testing begins, what systems are in scope, what active exploitation is authorized, and what notification process applies if a critical finding is discovered mid-engagement. Testing can be scheduled around business-critical windows if needed.

VAPT is a technical security test that identifies exploitable vulnerabilities in your environment. SOC 2 is an audit framework that evaluates whether your organization has appropriate security controls in place across trust service criteria. VAPT evidence is commonly used to support SOC 2 Type II audits, demonstrating that the organization actively tests its security posture. TechWise handles both.

The Vulnerabilities Are There.
The Question Is Who Finds Them First.

TechWise scopes the cadence against your compliance requirements and risk profile before recommending anything. The conversation starts with understanding what your framework requires and what your environment looks like today.

Tell Us What’s Broken.
We’ll Tell You How to Fix It.

Every managed engagement starts with a free assessment of your environment: no scope surprises. Tell us what’s broken, what’s keeping you up at night, or what you’re trying to build. We’ll tell you exactly what it takes and which model fits.

  • Free environment assessment, before any scope is finalized

  • 30-minute call with a senior engineer, not a sales rep

  • Six engagement models, from project to enterprise SOC

  • Chicago · Philadelphia · Los Angeles

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