Why Do You Need to Prepare for a Pentest
A penetration test is often seen as a technical service that starts when testing begins. In reality, the outcome of a pentest can be heavily influenced by what happens before it even starts. Preparation is what defines how efficient, accurate, and valuable the results will be.
Penetration testing is not a one-sided activity, but a collaborative process that depends on clear scope, timely access, and alignment between the client and the testing team. Without this foundation, even the most experienced pentesters cannot fully assess the environment.
For example, in our collaboration with General Financing Bankas, a specialised Lithuanian bank, penetration testing is part of ongoing regulatory requirements set by the Bank of Lithuania.
To meet these requirements, preparation on the client side was essential. The organisation needed to clearly define the scope of systems to be tested, ensure timely access, and align internal teams before the engagement started. Without this, meeting both security and regulatory expectations would not have been possible.
As our Head of Information Security, Gabrielius Vinciunas, explains:
‘Projects often slow down simply because, for example, the required level of access is not provided on time. Meanwhile, the testing team has already reserved the time and resources.’
Delays in preparation can lead to wasted testing time, incomplete coverage, and, in some cases, the need to reschedule parts of the engagement.
Preparation also directly impacts the quality of findings. When systems, access, and expectations are clearly defined, testers can focus on identifying real vulnerabilities instead of spending time resolving basic setup issues.
How to Prepare Before Starting a Pentest
Proper preparation is what separates a smooth, high-value penetration test from a delayed and limited one. Here is a practical step-by-step guide to help you get ready before engaging a penetration testing provider:
Define what you actually want to test
The first and most important step is defining the scope. Without a clear understanding of what needs to be tested, even the best penetration testing team cannot deliver meaningful results.
This includes identifying:
- Applications and platforms.
- APIs and integrations.
- Internal infrastructure.
- External-facing systems.
- IoT devices, hardware.
- Physical perimeter.
- Social engineering.
- Automotive testing.
- SOC service provider effectiveness testing.
- Compliance testing (NIS2, ISO 27001).
In practice, this step is often more challenging than expected.
‘Sometimes it takes longer to define what to test than to run the test itself, especially in organisations where systems have evolved over time and are not fully documented,’ says our CISO.
At the same time, how well the scope is defined has a direct impact on the outcome. Research by DeepStrike shows that while many organisations still perform testing on a limited or general scope, more targeted assessments that include APIs and cloud environments identify up to 81% of high and critical vulnerabilities that broader scans may miss.
On the other hand, narrowly defined or incomplete scopes may reveal only 20–30% of actual risks, while well-defined and focused testing can improve return on investment by up to 53% through more effective remediation.
Taking the time to clearly define the scope ensures that testing focuses on the most critical assets and delivers results that reflect real risk exposure.
Prepare access in advance
Once the scope is clear, the next step is ensuring that all required access is ready before the test begins.
Depending on the type of pentest, this may include:
- User credentials.
- VPN or internal network access.
- API keys.
- Access to test or production environments.
Access delays are one of the most common reasons projects slow down.
‘Access is one of the main blockers,’ Vinciunas notes.
Preparing this in advance helps avoid wasted time and ensures that the testing team can start working immediately and efficiently.
Understand your own systems
Many organisations underestimate how complex their own environments have become. Over time, systems grow, integrations are added, and documentation becomes outdated.
Common challenges include:
- Unknown or unmanaged assets.
- Outdated system documentation.
- Undocumented integrations.
- Shadow IT.
At the same time, modern IT environments are increasingly interconnected. Data shows that around 40% of organisations identify third-party and supply chain risks as a major concern, highlighting how dependencies between systems increase overall exposure.
So, the better you understand your own environment, the more effective the penetration test will be.
Align on the testing approach
Before testing begins, it is important to agree on how the pentest will be conducted.
This includes:
- Testing type (black-box, grey-box, white-box).
- Level of access provided.
- Environments (production vs staging).
- Use of automated tools vs manual testing.
This alignment ensures that expectations are clear on both sides and avoids misunderstandings during the project.
‘Automated tools are highly effective at uncovering common and well-known vulnerabilities, but they frequently miss more complex issues—such as business logic flaws and chained attack paths - that require contextual understanding. In practice, these higher-impact vulnerabilities are typically identified through manual testing rather than automated scanning.’ Vinciunas explains.
This is why a proper pentest always includes manual validation and deeper analysis, not just automated scanning.
Prepare your internal team
A successful penetration test requires coordination within your organisation as well.
Before the test starts, it is important to:
- Inform IT, DevOps, and security teams.
- Ensure monitoring systems are aware of testing activity.
- Define points of contact.
- Align on escalation procedures.
Without this preparation, testing activity may be misinterpreted as a real attack or blocked by internal controls.
Clear communication helps ensure that testing can proceed smoothly without unnecessary interruptions.
Be ready to collaborate during the test
A pentest is not a fully isolated process. During the engagement, the testing team may need clarification, validation, or additional information from the client.
This may include:
- Confirming system behaviour.
- Validating findings.
- Providing additional access.
- Answering technical questions.
‘We sometimes need input from the client to understand how systems behave. Quick and effective collaboration helps the testing team move faster and produce more accurate and valuable results.’ says Vinciunas.
This kind of collaboration is not limited to penetration testing alone. For example, in our work with Darnu Group, close coordination with the client was essential throughout the project.
To deliver meaningful results, we needed input from different teams, including clarification of internal processes, validation of how employees handle security incidents, and alignment on how phishing simulations should reflect real scenarios. This required ongoing communication and quick feedback from the client’s side at each stage of the project.
As a result, the organisation was able to clearly understand its internal security readiness and take practical steps to improve it.
Final Thoughts: A Good Penetration Test Starts Before Testing
As we already established, a penetration test does not begin when testing starts. It begins with preparation.
The more clearly you define your scope, provide access, align your teams, and understand your own systems, the more value you will get from the engagement. Without this foundation, even a well-executed test can fall short of delivering meaningful insights.
Preparation is what allows pentesters to focus on real risks instead of basic setup issues. It ensures that vulnerabilities are not only identified, but also properly understood and validated in the context of your environment.
As Vinciunas puts it:
‘The most valuable aspect of penetration testing is not identifying individual vulnerabilities, but understanding their impact on the business and the potential scale of damage they could cause.’
As a top cyber security company, at Baltic Amadeus, penetration testing is approached as a collaborative process. We work closely with clients before the engagement begins to ensure everything is clearly defined and ready. This allows us to deliver deeper insights, more accurate findings, and results that can be acted on in practice.
Our goal is not just to perform tests, but to help organisations understand their real exposure and take meaningful steps to reduce it.
If you are planning a penetration test and want to make sure it delivers real value, our team can help you prepare, define the right scope, and guide you through the entire process. Reach out to our team to get started.
