"We already run Vectra and CrowdStrike — do we still need pentests?"

This caught me a bit off-guard.

Yes. And here’s why:

Motivation 1: Detection is not defense.

Vectra (NDR) and CrowdStrike (EDR) give you excellent visibility. But visibility without validation is like a CCTV system no one tries to break into. Does it work? Was it set up properly, or are they easy to find blind spots?

Even if your tools work and alert: Is there someone receiving those alerts? When do they arrive? Are they actionable or just collecting and noone ever looks? 

Are all relevant devices onboarded? Or can we easily find IT-systems that are not running the EDR agent, or run in networks that are not observed?

Pentests simulate intent.
They show whether an attacker can bypass, blind, or abuse these tools in real-world conditions—not in test mode. We’ve bypassed CrowdStrike. We’ve exfiltrated data without Vectra raising an alert. Detection gaps exist.

You don’t test your car airbags by reading the brochure.
You crash test them. Same with your SOC stack.

Mature security teams combine EDR/NDR with continuous offensive testing—because resilience is more than alerts.

Don’t just monitor your network. Attack it. Before someone else does.

Motivation 2: Uncover your weaknesses.

Penetration testing isn’t just about testing the tools—it’s about revealing the cracks in the entire landscape.

Attackers don’t care about your tools and processes—they care about what’s exposed, misconfigured, outdated, or forgotten. Unpatched web apps, exposed internal tools, overprivileged accounts, legacy infrastructure… Every small gap is a foothold.

What’s worse: these vulnerabilities aren’t just theoretical—they’re operational shortcuts for real attackers. They turn your flat networks into playgrounds. Your hybrid infrastructure into privilege escalation chains. Your remote endpoints into persistence hubs.

We simulate how those gaps are discovered and weaponized—before the real adversaries do.

Because every undiscovered vulnerability is still a risk—just one waiting to be exploited.

Uncovering and fixing them means reducing your attack surface, tightening lateral movement paths, and disrupting adversary playbooks before they start.

Don’t just test your defenses. Disrupt attack chains by removing vulnerabilities.

#PenetrationTesting #RedTeam #CrowdStrike #Vectra #ThreatValidation #ExploitLabs