I am a pentester and IDS/IPS administrator for a large-ish security firm. None of our tech staff worked on the corporate web site. We are too busy, and frankly, it's just not my bag.
Public facing websites are usually outsourced to professional graphics arts firms and developed under the supervision of the Director of Business Development. It's usually a solid pile of fluffy buzzwords and crap. I like where you are going, you're just not there yet. Your methodology is weak. You need to review the "actionability" of the deliverables. Ask for sanitized sample reports. The argument of who has the most leet hackers is unmeasurable and pointless. For commercial security firms the real criteria needs to be focused on the business process that helps their clients improve their overall security posture. Not just, "I found an XSS on your site", but how is the security infrastructure being managed and improved. Try looking at the "actionability" aspect of the companies' deliverables and see if you don't get better findings. Some possible things to look for: Do they include a screen shot for every finding? Do they correlate each finding to a specific spot of code in the vulnerable app? Do they work with your developers to assist with remediation and permanent resolution? How much app dev experience do the pentesters have? Do they have Language and framework specialists on staff to review each finding and make relevant remediation recommendations? Do they meet with the security team, the networking team, the server support team and the developer team separately in break-out sessions with specialists in each area? Does every finding include a recommendation for permanent remediation? Please get better. I like where you are going, you're just not there yet. t.r. ------------------------------------------------- Email solutions, MS Exchange alternatives and extrication, security services, systems integration. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/