Cobalt Named Sole “Outperformer” in GigaOm’s Radar for Penetration Testing as a Service (PtaaS) 2 Years in a Row

Explore this year's report with the 2024 version of the GigaOm Radar Report.

Lead independent industry research report firm, GigaOm has named Cobalt the sole outperformer for the second year running in its 2023 Radar Report for Penetration Testing as a Service (PtaaS). 

The label means Cobalt demonstrates a rare combination of innovation, maturity, and comprehensive features in the PTaaS sector. Outperformers are in the most elite inner circle of industry leaders, and promise outstanding long-term success compared to competitors.

"The Cobalt PtaaS solution is characterized by its comprehensive yet user-friendly approach," the report commented. "It features straightforward automated onboarding and scheduling, a host of mature integrations, API access, transparent pricing, and streamlined communications."

PtaaS: How Cobalt Transformed Pentesting

Founded in 2013, Cobalt pioneered the introduction of Pentest as a Service (PtaaS). PtaaS gives cybersecurity professionals new levels of transparency and control over penetration testing, which assesses a system's defenses using simulated cyberattacks. 

Instead of inefficient one-off tests and delayed reports, PtaaS makes pentesting – and its data – continuously available to firms. This allows for ongoing due diligence and means security gaps can be addressed more quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively.

Cobalt continues to lead this category through innovation and unrivaled customer service.

The Cobalt platform boasts a community of the sector's best pentesters. It offers clients personalized packages, streamlined communication between teams, and a variety of different APIs and integrations. 

Beyond its community of testers, Cobalt also offers other cybersecurity consulting services such as social engineering simulations and physical security tests. Today, over 1,200 customers use Cobalt to run pentests on-demand via the industry leading PtaaS platform.

Cobalt Ranked as Industry Leader

GigaOm's report also awarded Cobalt a rating of exceptional (the highest category) in multiple individual areas. These included:

• Flexibility – The platform boasts self-serve pentest planning, so clients can build custom yet repeatable testing for multiple teams to adopt. Cobalt's Agile Pentesting is an even more streamlined process suitable for more than just compliance – providing crucial internal security data for new features or code changes, too.
  
  
• Speed – "The main benefits that we get from Cobalt are speed, scalability, and repeatability," said Eric Galis, VP of Compliance and Security at Cengage. "We're able to quickly launch and execute pentests...and...see individual findings in real time...so [engineering] can start triaging immediately."
  
  
  
• Risk Reduction – Clients can remediate risks faster thanks to the platform's streamlined communication, collaboration, and centralized, dynamic access to testing data.
  
  
• Integration with SDLC Technologies – Cobalt stood out for its ability to integrate with key platforms like Github, Jira, and Slack, among others.
  
  
• Enhanced Communications – Using Slack, the platform offers streamlined communication channels between clients and their testers. There's also a more secure internal channel for sensitive topics.
  
  
• Retesting of Findings – Clients benefit from free retesting for the first six to twelve months after their initial findings, depending on their service tier. 
  
  
• Streamlined Procurement – Cobalt solves typical pentesting inefficiencies clients face. This includes onboarding time (Cobalt customers onboard in one to three days as opposed to weeks). It also includes up to 50 percent faster pentest execution time from scheduling to remediation and retesting.

GigaOm highlighted Cobalt's streamlined data-sharing – thanks to its bidirectional public API – and its efficient integration with the Jira platform, reducing duplicate tasks. It lauded the company's transparent pricing as well.

Next Steps: What Firms Should Look for in a PtaaS Provider

Firms can improve their pentesting process by seeking a PtaaS provider that offers a balance of flexibility and ongoing access to testing experts. 

Solutions like Cobalt streamline the process, putting control squarely in clients' hands while ensuring they can communicate openly with their testers, viewing and sharing critical data quickly. This allows for a more efficient process, reducing risk through tailored testing and rapid remediation.

Beyond this, platforms with transparent pricing simplify the approval process, eliminating budgeting unknowns. With the right resources, firms can rest assured they are operating securely and cost-efficiently.

Download the full report here and see firsthand the benefits of working with Cobalt for all your offensive security needs.