Penetration Testing Report Format [With Real Examples]

In the current regulatory and threat-intense environment, penetration test report samples provide not only technical texts. They are evidence of the cyber-sense of Singapore-based businesses that work in a framework of regulations imposed by the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).

Every pentest report is not just the same. The most successful ones not only give information, they inspire change. When you are assessing the samples of reports, the following qualities are what may set the difference between a good and a bad report:

1. Balanced Language for Technical and Non-Technical Teams

An excellent report gets written in a way that a security engineer and the CISO can take action. Whereas a developer receives potential technical fixes on a line-by-line basis, on the other end of the phone, decision-makers are told summaries fashioned on lines of business risk, compliance, and priority.

2. Clear, Actionable Remediation Path

Instead of vague recommendations like “review access policies,” a strong report includes platform-specific fixes, code snippets, command-line instructions, and testing validation steps. It turns findings into next steps.

3. Zero False Positives

Proper reports do not overwhelm the teams with pointless alerts. Every discovery is presentable, replicable, and has a concrete effect in the real world. This is time-saving, prevents alert fatigue, and makes teams address what is important.

4. Support for Engineering Workflows

The report must provide your existing systems with output formats, ex, integration into JIRA to create tickets, OR JSON/CSV export into CI/CD tools such as GitLab or Jenkins. This leaves it ready to effortlessly transfer to the development or DevSecOps teams.

5. Tailored Insights Based on Industry

Standardized reports fail to hit the target. Quality assessments capture the individual threat profile and compliance requirements of your industry. As an example, Softbank Interview will consider the delivery of FinTech APIs with more API rate limiting and KYC data leakage reporting, whereas Healthcare clients will receive a report on PHI security and HIPAA compliance.