How to choose a pentest company in Kazakhstan: 8 questions for the contractor
KEMEL.TECH · Updated
To choose a pentest contractor, check eight things: the contract and scope of work, the methodology (for example, OWASP), manual confirmation of findings, a clear report, a free retest, handling of your data, transparent pricing and readiness to take part in a regulator's inspection. A mandatory condition in Kazakhstan is written permission from the resource owner, otherwise the work is considered unlawful access (Article 205 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan).
8 questions for the contractor
- Is there a contract, an NDA and written permission with clear boundaries (scope)?
- What methodology is used for testing: OWASP Top-10, API testing, business logic?
- Are findings confirmed manually, or will you receive an export from an automated scanner?
- What is in the report: description, CVSS level, reproduction steps, recommendations for developers?
- Is a retest after fixes included, and is it paid?
- How does the contractor handle the data it saw during the test, and where is it stored?
- How is the price formed and what happens if there are no vulnerabilities?
- Will the contractor help during a personal data law inspection and explain the results to the inspector?
Warning signs
- A promise to “hack in an hour” without written permission.
- The report is just a scanner export without manual verification.
- Prepayment without a clearly described result.
- The contractor is not ready to fix the scope of work in the contract.
How it works at KEMEL.TECH
Work is done under a contract with an NDA and clear boundaries, findings are confirmed manually, payment is only for confirmed vulnerabilities by CVSS, the retest is free, and during a personal data law inspection a specialist takes part as a technical specialist under a power of attorney.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a pentest differ from vulnerability scanning?
- A scanner automatically finds known issues and produces many false positives. In a pentest a specialist manually confirms the vulnerability and shows what can be done with it.
- Does a small business need a pentest?
- The law does not require a pentest for small personal data operators. It is useful if you have a website, user account area or app with customer data.