7 Tips To Manage Your Pentest Team More Efficiently

As the manager of a penetration testing team, it's your job to make sure your team is efficient, effective, and always learning. Here are seven tips to help you do just that.

1. Set clear goals and objectives.

Before your team can be efficient, they need to know what they're working towards. Sit down with your team and set some clear goals and objectives for the upcoming months or a year. This will help them stay focused and on track. Goals and objectives can be personalized for your team such as literature reviews about car hacking, a demo about Web 3.0, meeting or exceeding reporting deadlines, zero f/p, etc. The timeframe for goals can be either quarterly or yearly, depending on your company's internal processes.

2. Create a system for tracking progress.

It's important to track your team's progress so you can see what's working and what isn't. You can do this by creating a simple tracking system, like a spreadsheet, where you record each team member's progress on a weekly or monthly basis. This will help you identify any areas that need improvement. Although it may be difficult for penetration testing services, it is still an effective way to see the big picture. Some objectives you can track for the penetration team.

• Attack vector per scope during a pentest
• Total pentest time
• Total reporting time
• F/p rate
• The number of corrections made on the draft report review done by one of your team members.

3. Encourage continued learning.

Your team should never stop learning. As the world of pentesting evolves, so should your team's skillset. Encourage your team members to keep up with the latest news and trends by reading industry publications or taking online courses. This will keep them sharp and help them identify new weaknesses during the pentest. Creating an internal training plan and pursuing international certification are great choices for continuous learning.

4. Hold regular meetings.

Regular meetings are a great way to keep your team on track and aligned with your company's goals. Meetings also give you an opportunity to provide feedback and give direction when needed. Try to hold at least one meeting per week, if not more.

5. Implement an incentive system.

Implement an incentive system that encourages positive behavior and increased productivity within the workplace this will bring positivity around the office as well as make employees want to try harder in order to gain rewards. For instance, give bonuses if one of your team members finds a vulnerability that is hard to find. If your employee has passed a certification exam with a high score, send an email to the whole team to pass it. Give bonuses, invite him to your customers' meetings where they are happy with your services., send them to events, shortly find something nice to make them happy.

6. Promote from within whenever possible

Promoting employees from within the company will show loyalty to those who have worked hard for the organization as well as give inspiration to other employees to work their way up the career ladder.

7. Let them know their efforts are appreciated

It costs absolutely nothing to say thank you or good job every once in a while but it means the world to employees who feel appreciated in their workplace. Share your thanks at your company's social media (Remember to always ask your employer's permission before sharing a kind thank you message!). If your customers are happy with your team's work, ask them to write a letter of appreciation. Share this letter with your team.

Managing a pentest team can be challenging, but it's also very rewarding. By following these tips, you can ensure that your team is efficient, effective, and always learning new things.

I hope you liked the article that our Pentest team leader prepared for you.