What makes PTaaS different from bug bounty
Bug bounty programs are open-ended and continuous: researchers test whenever and however they choose, within your defined scope. PTaaS is structured and time-boxed: a defined team tests a defined scope during a defined window, following a systematic methodology.PTaaS and bug bounty are complementary, not competing. Many organizations run both: PTaaS for structured assessments aligned to compliance cycles, and bug bounty for continuous coverage between formal tests.
Why PTaaS on Hackrate
Verified researchers
Every researcher who participates in a PTaaS engagement on Hackrate has been identity-verified using KYC (Know Your Customer) services. Hackrate’s Elite Club — a curated group of the highest-performing and most trustworthy researchers on the platform — is the preferred pool for PTaaS engagements. Researchers hold industry-recognized certifications including OSCP, OSCE, CISSP, and CEH.Real-time visibility into findings
Unlike traditional penetration tests where you receive a report weeks after testing concludes, Hackrate’s PTaaS delivers findings in real time. Every vulnerability a researcher submits appears in your dashboard immediately. Your team can begin triaging and remediating critical issues while testing is still ongoing — dramatically shortening the time between discovery and fix.HackGATE™ monitoring
For organizations that require the highest level of transparency and control over their security testing, Hackrate offers integration with HackGATE™ — a managed gateway appliance purpose-built for monitoring pentest projects. HackGATE is the industry’s first comprehensive solution for monitoring ethical hacker activity during a testing engagement. With HackGATE, you gain:- Full visibility into the network traffic generated by testers
- Assurance that researchers are staying within the agreed scope
- Detailed audit logs of testing activity for compliance and legal purposes
- The ability to pause or terminate testing activity instantly if needed
HackGATE is available as an add-on to PTaaS engagements. Contact the Hackrate team to learn more about deployment options and requirements.
Flexibility across asset types
PTaaS on Hackrate supports a wide range of asset types:Web Applications
Full black-box, grey-box, or white-box testing of web applications, including authentication, business logic, API endpoints, and client-side security.
APIs
REST, GraphQL, and SOAP API assessments — covering authentication, authorization, input validation, and data exposure.
Mobile Applications
iOS and Android app assessments including static analysis, runtime testing, local data storage, and network communication security.
Network & Infrastructure
Internal and external network assessments, firewall rule reviews, and infrastructure hardening checks.
How a PTaaS engagement works
1
Scoping and planning
The Hackrate team works with you to define the engagement scope, testing objectives, and timeline. You specify which assets should be tested, any restrictions (for example, production vs. staging environments, off-limit functionality, testing hours), and the depth of assessment required. A clear scope document is agreed upon before testing begins.
2
Researcher selection and onboarding
Hackrate selects a team of 5 to 20 verified researchers with the skill sets most relevant to your target assets. For specialized engagements — for example, a mobile app with specific iOS exploitation requirements — the team is assembled accordingly. Researchers sign NDAs and are briefed on the engagement rules before access is granted.
3
Testing and real-time reporting
Testing begins on the agreed start date. Researchers submit findings through the Hackrate platform as they are discovered. Each report is structured with title, severity, affected asset, reproduction steps, supporting evidence (screenshots, proof-of-concept code), and remediation guidance. Critical findings are flagged immediately for your team’s attention.
4
Remediation and retesting
Once your engineering team has addressed a finding, you can request a retest from the researcher who originally identified it. Retesting confirms that the fix is effective and that the vulnerability cannot be reintroduced through a variant of the original attack.
5
Final report and sign-off
At the conclusion of the engagement, Hackrate produces a formal engagement report summarizing all findings by severity, including evidence, impact descriptions, and remediation guidance. This report is structured for executive, engineering, and compliance audiences.
Compliance-ready outputs
PTaaS engagements on Hackrate are designed to satisfy the evidence requirements of major compliance frameworks. The structured findings, severity ratings, and formal report are directly usable as supporting documentation for:ISO 27001
Demonstrates regular penetration testing as required by Annex A controls on vulnerability management and technical compliance review.
SOC 2
Supports the availability, integrity, and confidentiality criteria by providing documented evidence of proactive security testing.
PCI DSS
Satisfies Requirement 11.3 for penetration testing of the cardholder data environment and associated systems.
NIS2 & GDPR
Supports organizational obligations around risk management, incident prevention, and data protection by design.
Integrations for streamlined workflows
Vulnerability findings from PTaaS engagements can be pushed directly to your existing development and operations tooling:- Jira Cloud — Automatically create Jira issues from Hackrate reports, keeping your engineering team’s workflow in one place
- GitHub — Create GitHub issues or security advisories directly from reports, with status syncing when issues are closed or reopened
- Microsoft Teams — Receive real-time notifications in your Teams channels when new findings are submitted
- Slack — Get instant Slack notifications for new reports and status changes
- Zapier — Connect Hackrate to thousands of other tools through Zapier webhooks