Active

Penetration Testing

The organization shall conduct penetration testing of applications to identify vulnerabilities that may not be detected through automated testing. Penetration testing shall include simulation of real-world attacks, identification of vulnerabilities, and assessment of application security posture, conducted by qualified personnel with findings documented.

Requirement ID
APP-005-R005
Parent Control
APP-005
Domain Code
APP

Requirement Details & Guidance

APP-005-R005 · APP-005
Why This Requirement Exists

Security testing identifies vulnerabilities that may not be visible through design review or code inspection alone.

Implementation Guidance

Use risk-appropriate SAST, DAST, IAST, penetration testing, dependency analysis, and other testing techniques. Track findings through remediation and verify closure.

Practical Application & Audit Readiness

APP-005-R005 · Field Guidance

Business Examples

    Common Audit Findings

      Common Mistakes

        Best Practices & Ownership

        APP-005 · Recommended Approach

        Recommended Practices

          Typical Owner

          Cross-Mapped Regulatory Frameworks

          Harmonized Control Mappings
          FRAMEWORK CODE FRAMEWORK NAME & DETAILS FAMILY / CATEGORY VERSION ACTION
          CIS-V8 CIS Controls CIS Controls are a prioritized set of cybersecurit... Clause: Control 16 – Application Software Security: 16.13 – Conduct Application Penetration Testing
          CIS
          Best Practice
          		 vv8 View →
          COBIT2019 COBIT COBIT is an enterprise governance and management f... Clause: 4.3 – Build, Acquire and Implement (BAI) > BAI03 – Managed Solutions Identification and Build > BAI03.06 – Perform quality assurance (QA). 4.3 – Build, Acquire and Implement (BAI) > BAI03 – Managed Solutions Identification and Build > BAI03.07 – Prepare for solution testing.
          COBIT
          Governance Framework
          		 v2019 View →
          DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act establis... Clause: Article 25 – Testing of ICT tools and systems Article 24(2) – Appropriate digital operational resilience tests
          EU
          Regulation
          		 vCurrent View →
          GDPR General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The General Data Protection Regulation is a bindin... Clause: Article 32(1)(d) – Testing, assessing and evaluating security measures
          EU
          Regulation
          		 vCurrent View →
          HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA is a U.S. federal law supported by implement... Clause: § 164.312(h)(2)(iii) Penetration testing
          US
          Law
          		 vCurrent View →
          IRDAI IRDAI Information & Cyber Security Guidelines IRDAI information and cyber-security requirements... Clause: §2.5-3.1.2.2 – Application development; §2.5-3.2.6 – System security testing; §2.5-3.2.5 – Technical review of applications
          India
          Guideline
          		 vLatest View →
          ISO27002 ISO/IEC 27002 ISO/IEC 27002 is a guidance standard containing a... Clause: 8.26 – Application security requirements; 8.29 – Security testing in development and acceptance
          ISO
          Standard
          		 v2022 View →
          NIS2 NIS2 Directive The NIS2 Directive establishes EU-wide cybersecuri... Clause: Article 21(2)(e) – Security in network and information systems acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling and disclosure Article 21(2)(f) – Policies and procedures to assess the effectiveness of cybersecurity risk-management measures
          EU
          Directive
          		 vCurrent View →
          NIST-CSF NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides high-lev... Clause: PR.PS – Platform Security | PR.PS-06 – Secure software development practices are integrated, and their performance is monitored throughout the software development life cycle PR.PS – Platform Security | PR.PS-01 – Configuration management practices are established and applied DE.CM – Continuous Monitoring | DE.CM-09 – Computing hardware and software, runtime environments, and their data are monitored to find potentially adverse events
          NIST
          Framework
          		 v2 View →
          NIST80053 NIST SP 800-53 NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 presents control families, i... Clause: 3.4 – ASSESSMENT, AUTHORIZATION, AND MONITORING; CA-8 – PENETRATION TESTING
          NIST
          Control Catalog
          		 vRev. 5 View →
          NPCI-ISR NPCI Information Security Requirements NPCI information-security requirements define cont... Clause: Operational Review; Testing – VAPT
          India
          Standard
          		 vLatest View →
          PCI-DSS PCI DSS PCI DSS is an industry security standard maintaine... Clause: 6.3.1 – Security vulnerabilities are identified and; 11.4.1 – A penetration testing methodology is defined,; 11.4.4 – Exploitable vulnerabilities and security
          PCI
          Standard
          		 v4 View →
          RBI-CSF RBI Cyber Security Framework / Master Directions RBI cyber-security requirements and directions set... Clause: 6) Application Security Life Cycle (ASLC) – 6.2 Source-code audit or assurance of critical applications; 6) Application Security Life Cycle (ASLC) – 6.6 Threat modelling, secure coding, security testing and secure rollout; 7) Patch/Vulnerability & Change Management – 7.5 Periodic application security testing throughout lifecycle in production-like environment; 18) Vulnerability assessment and Penetration Test and Red Team Exercises – 18.3 Qualified teams for public-facing and critical-application penetration testing
          India
          Regulation
          		 vLatest View →
          SEBI-CSCRF SEBI Cyber Security & Cyber Resilience Framework SEBI’s Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framewor... Clause: 3.4 PR.IP: Information Protection Processes and Procedures
          India
          Regulation
          		 vLatest View →
          SOC2 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria SOC 2 is an independent examination and reporting... Clause: CC7.1 – System Operations – To meet its objectives, the entity uses detection and monitoring procedures to identify (1) changes to configurations that result in the introduction of new vulnerabilities, and (2) susceptibilities to newly discovered vulnerabilities. CC4.1 – Monitoring of Controls – COSO Principle 16: The entity selects, develops, and performs ongoing and/or separate evaluations to ascertain whether the components of internal control are present and functioning.
          AICPA
          Audit Framework
          		 vLatest View →

          Parent Domain Context

          Governance Domain Baseline
          Domain Name:
          Application Security (APP)
          Purpose:
          To ensure the security of internally developed and acquired applications.
          Scope:
          Enterprise
          View

          Parent Control Context

          Control Baseline
          Control Name:
          Application Security Testing (APP-005)
          Summary:
          Establishes application security testing including SAST, DAST, IAST, penetration testing, vulnerability validation, reporting, review, remediation verification, and continuous improvement.
          Business Description:
          Establish and maintain security testing processes using static, dynamic, interactive, manual, and penetration testing techniques throughout the application lifecycle.
          View