Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing
Black vs Gray vs White: Choosing the Right Approach for Your Security Needs
In today's digital landscape, Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) is essential for identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks. VAPT combines vulnerability scanning with simulated attacks to uncover weaknesses in systems, networks, and applications. However, not all VAPT is the same. It comes in three main flavors: black box, gray box, and white box testing. Each varies in the level of information provided to the tester, affecting depth, realism, and cost. This guide explains the differences and helps you select the best fit for your organization.
Black Box VAPT: The Outsider's Perspective
Black box testing simulates a real-world external hacker with zero prior knowledge of your system. Testers start from scratch, using open-source intelligence (OSINT) like public records, DNS enumeration, and scanning tools to discover assets such as IPs, domains, or web apps. They then probe for vulnerabilities without internal access, focusing on external attack surfaces.
Pros: Highly realistic for external threats; uncovers blind spots like forgotten servers or misconfigured firewalls. It's ideal for validating perimeter defenses.
Cons: Time-intensive due to reconnaissance; may miss internal flaws if the surface is obfuscated. Costs range from $5,000–$50,000, often using time-and-materials pricing to handle unknowns. When to choose: If your goal is to mimic opportunistic cyberattacks, especially for compliance like PCI DSS external scans or small businesses with limited internal complexity.
Gray Box VAPT: The Balanced Hybrid
Gray box testing provides partial information, such as user credentials, API endpoints, or high-level architecture overviews, but not full internals. This allows testers to simulate semi-informed attackers, like a compromised low-level employee. They combine external reconnaissance with targeted internal probes, assessing areas like authentication bypass or privilege escalation.
Pros: Balances realism and efficiency; faster than black box while revealing more than surface-level issues. It's versatile for mixed environments.
Cons: Requires some disclosure, which might not fully replicate zero-knowledge attacks; depth depends on provided info. Pricing typically falls between $7,000–$40,000, with phased models for flexibility. When to choose: For mid-sized organizations testing web apps or cloud setups, where you want practical insights without full exposure. It's great for ongoing audits or validating user-level security.
White Box VAPT: The Insider's Deep Dive
White box testing grants complete access to internals, including source code, network diagrams, databases, and admin credentials. Testers review code for logic flaws (e.g., SQL injection via static analysis tools like SonarQube), analyze designs, and simulate insider threats with full transparency.
Pros: Most comprehensive; identifies deep-rooted issues like architectural weaknesses or backdoors. Efficient for complex systems, providing detailed remediation guidance.
Cons: Less realistic for external threats; resource-heavy, with costs from $10,000–$100,000+ due to expertise needed. It assumes trust in the provider. When to choose: For enterprises in regulated industries (e.g., finance, healthcare) needing thorough compliance audits, software development cycles, or internal network assessments.
Key Differences and How to Choose
The core distinction lies in knowledge level: black box (none) emphasizes discovery and external realism; gray box (partial) offers a middle ground; white box (full) prioritizes depth and internals. Black box is cheapest but least thorough; white box is priciest but most exhaustive.
To decide:
Assess your goals—external threat simulation? Go black. Internal maturity? Opt white.
Consider budget and timeline—black/gray for quicker, cost-effective tests.
Evaluate environment—if obfuscated or cloud-heavy, gray avoids black box frustrations.
Factor in risks—start with black for realism, escalate to white for fixes.
Ultimately, the right VAPT strengthens your defenses. Contact us for a tailored scoping questionnaire to refine your choice based on specifics like asset count or compliance needs. By aligning the test type with your priorities, you'll gain actionable insights to safeguard your assets effectively.
FAQ about our Cypherd's VAPT Services
What VAPT services can be done remotely?
Typically, only a Full Attack Surface Black Box VAPT service can be done remotely, as this type of VAPT mimics a determined external adversary. However, Gray and White VAPT testing can also be done remotely. For example, you may provide us a VPN access to assess your internal endpoints mimicking an insider threat. Most organizations prefer a pivot approach from external Black Box VAPT to gray box VA for assessing the internal network.
How can CYPHERD improve our company's cybersecurity?
The VAPT service delivers a report about your technical vulnerabilities, exploitability, and remediation guidance, ensuring no weak spot that a real-world hacker can exploit
How do we start the VAPT process?
To initiate a VAPT with Cypherd, please follow these structured steps. This process ensures a secure, efficient, and compliant engagement. This is a typical VAPT engagement, but can change for additional requirements such as re-testing of the remediated vulnerabilities.
Initiate Contact: Submit a brief message via the form below, expressing your interest in VAPT. Include your organization's name and the name of the authorized signatory for the Mutual Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA).
Receive Scoping Document and NDA: Cypherd will email you a concise scoping questionnaire (fewer than 25 questions) along with a pre-signed NDA.
Respond to Scoping and NDA: Complete the scoping document, sign the NDA, and return both via email.
Proposal Review: Cypherd will prepare and send a tailored proposal for your review. Discussions and negotiations can occur at this stage if needed.
Accept Proposal: Sign and return the proposal to confirm your acceptance.
Receive Contract Documents: Cypherd will provide the formal contract, Rules of Engagement (RoE), and access permission forms.
Execute Contract Documents: Review, sign, and return the contract, RoE, and access permissions.
Down Payment Invoice: Cypherd will issue an invoice for the initial down payment.
Make Down Payment: Settle the down payment as per the invoice instructions.
Pre-Engagement Meeting. This is to further discuss the RoE document.
Reconnaissance Phase: Cypherd will perform both passive and active reconnaissance
Seek Another Approval (for black box VAPT) - Cypherd will send a list of discovered assets and seek approval for scanning and testing
Vulnerability Scanning and Analysis: Cypherd performs a vulnerability scan of all approved assets, performs risk analysis and threat modelling.
Testing Phase: Cypherd performs penetration testing of potentially exploitable vulnerabilities.
Report Delivery: Cypherd will deliver the comprehensive assessment report within the agreed timeline.
Acceptance Confirmation: Review the report and sign the acceptance form to acknowledge receipt and satisfaction.
Final Invoice: Cypherd will issue the invoice for the remaining balance.
Final Payment: Settle the final invoice to complete the engagement.
Contact Us To Discuss More About VAPT
Please provide your organization's name and official signatory for the Mutual NDA.