Standardizing Pentesting Outputs

Introduction

In offensive security testing, documentation is just as important as execution. Clear outputs ensure findings are understood by the right audience and can be acted upon quickly.

My initial plan was to design two reporting templates:

1. Ad-hoc Testing Report – business-friendly, with concise objectives, key findings, and risk summaries.
2. Testing Note – technical-facing, with methodology, MITRE ATT&CK mapping, and execution details.

At the time, this seemed like the right balance between business clarity and technical depth.

Why I Structured It This Way

The idea behind this dual-template approach was straightforward:

• Tailored communication – one format for stakeholders, another for technical peers.
• Consistency – standardized outputs that could be reused across future tests.
• Professionalism – a way to demonstrate that testing was not only rigorous but also well-documented.

These goals were valid, but the execution highlighted some unexpected drawbacks.

Rethinking the Approach

As I began drafting both templates, I quickly realized there was significant overlap. The technical details in the “Testing Note” often ended up repeating content from the “Ad-hoc Testing Report.”

In practice, this meant extra effort without extra value — the team would be doing the same work twice in slightly different formats. After discussing this with the team, it became clear that we needed a more efficient solution.

Instead of maintaining two full reports, we decided to:

• Keep the Ad-hoc Testing Report as the primary deliverable.
• Replace the second template with a lightweight team cheat sheet.

Why a Cheat Sheet Works Better

The cheat sheet is simple by design:

• Efficiency: eliminates duplicate reporting.
• Practicality: quick to update, easy to use during active testing.
• Collaboration: serves as a shared knowledge base

Takeaways

What began as a plan for two formal templates evolved into a leaner, more useful system: one business-facing report and one technical cheat sheet.

Note to my future self:

• Keep the reports lean enough for stakeholders, but always maintain a shared space where teammates can quickly find references, mappings, and lessons learned.
• The real value comes when documentation reduces friction, speeds up testing, and helps everyone stay aligned.
• Keep refining the cheat sheet, and make sure it remains something the whole team benefits from, not just a personal archive.