Top 7 VAPT Companies In India for 2024 (and Best Pick)

VAPT in India has become a standard practice since the emergence of India’s Data Protection Act. Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT) is done by cybersecurity companies specializing in taking an offensive approach.

There are multiple factors, like the talent of security engineers, continuous vulnerability scanning, knowledge of Indian security compliance, etc. that make a VAPT company better than others. We’ve compiled a list of the top VAPT companies in India below after a well-thought-out comparison by security experts:

Top 7 VAPT Companies In India

• Astra Pentest Platform
• Isecurion
• Indusface
• Suma Soft
• Kratikal
• HiCube
• eSec Forte

Why Do You Need a VAPT in India?

Over the last few years, India has been a target of several attacks. These attacks were state-sponsored, targeting Indian government infrastructure. In the last 2 years, state-sponsored attacks on India increased by 238%, with the Aadhaar data breach being the biggest, leaking data of over 800 million people.

India’s growing private sector and startup ecosystem has been no exception, with startups like Rentmojo, Byju, and Dunzo facing a data breach in the last few years.

India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) has issued cybersecurity guidelines that require certain organizations handling critical citizen data to undergo VAPT. This is in response to the increasing importance of cybersecurity as a national priority. Here’s why VAPT becomes a no-brainer if you are doing business in India: 

1. Prevents Data Breaches

Conducting VAPT means you’re hacking yourself before hackers do. Regular vulnerability assessment & penetration tests allow you to be ahead of external threats, helping prevent data breaches. 

2. Strengthens Overall Security

Regular VAPTs help uncover gaps within your current security posture. An offensive ‘hacker style’ VAPT done by experts enables you to evolve your security roadmap apart from finding security loopholes.  

3. Achieving and Maintaining Compliance Standards

VAPT is mandated by compliance, such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and SOC 2. It is also a recommended activity for other compliance like HIPAA and GDPR.  

4. Helps Win More Business in India

VAPT is now a mandatory requirement for hosting your website/app on the Government’s NIC servers. If you want to work with an Indian bank, you must also comply with the highly recommended requirement of VAPT.

5. Moving from DevOps to DevSecOps

Modern engineering teams are rapidly moving from DevOps to DevSecOps. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration tests ensure that applications are thoroughly tested at every stage of development before reaching production, which helps expedite the transition to DevSecOps. 

What Makes Astra the Best VAPT Solution?

• We’re the only company that combines automated & manual pentest to create a one-of-a-kind pentest platform
• The Astra Vulnerability Scanner Runs 8000+ tests to uncover every single vulnerability
• Vetted scans to ensure zero false positives
• Integrates with your CI/CD tools to help you establish DevSecOps
• A dynamic vulnerability management dashboard to manage, monitor, assign, and update vulnerabilities
• Astra pentest detects business logic errors and payment gateway hacks
• Helps you stay compliant with SOC2, ISO27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, etc.
• Trusted by the brands you trust like Agora, Spicejet, Muthoot, Dream11, etc.

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Indian Government PSUs & Laws That Recommend VAPT

India has been making significant strides toward data security. Some of the biggest PSUs now require or strongly recommend regular VAPT for their integrators, vendors, and partners. Here’s a list of some of the Indian PSUs and laws which recommend continuous pentests:

1. RBI (Reserve Bank of India): RBI regularly releases security guidelines for banks and financial institutions in India, including VAPT as a part of these guidelines.
2. CERT-IN: The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), a department that operates under the provisions of the IT Act of 2000 in India, often recommends regular penetration tests to organizations.
3. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI): We’ve seen NPCI often come out with advisories about the best security practices for organizations handling payments. Regular security scans are often recommended as a part of such guidelines. 
4.  Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI): IRDAI recommends regular VAPT for all companies handling insurance data due to the sensitive personal information involved. In the past, Astra Security has helped organizations like InsuranceDekho with their VAPT needs.
5. Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act: The recently released DPDP act by the Indian government recommends organizations take strong measures to protect their users and the data of Indian users.

Needless to say, VAPT is one of the first measures that any organization can take to become more secure. 

How Does A VAPT In India Work?

VAPTs are done by certified security professionals and companies with credible expertise. Vulnerability Assessment is usually automated security testing in the security world. In contrast, penetration tests are simulated hacker-style attacks by ethical hackers and require human intelligence. 

Here’s a simplified version of what a VAPT process looks like,

VAPT in India varies for each organization based on the scope, methodology, and cost. Security tests are often unique to each organization. For instance, Astra Security follows a well-documented methodology carefully crafted per the global security testing standards of OWASP, NIST, and known CVEs.

Factors To Look For A VAPT Company In India

1. Availability of Both Manual and Automated Pentesting

Fortify your company’s assets from the growing cyber threats through a manual pentest by security experts which helps detect vulnerabilities missed during an automated pentest. Some common examples include payment manipulation and business error vulnerabilities.

2. Continuous Vulnerability Scanning

Carry out vulnerability scans continuously on your digital assets every month or at least every quarter. The scanner should have robust vulnerability detection capabilities that cover common and emerging CVEs, updated constantly to find the latest threats.

3. Security Team Within India

CERT-In specifies that the security team must be within India as a requirement for certain pentests. Ensure that the VAPT solution chosen is CERT-In empanelled, as this is a requirement in Indian financial institutions and other industries where critical data is handled. 

4. CERT Empanelled 

If you are working with a PSU, Bank, or a government department that handles critical data like Aadhaar. In that case, the department often recommends working with a CERT-empanelled security vendor for your VAPT.

5. Credentials Of Pentesters

Choose a VAPT company that has professional pentesters with relevant globally acknowledged certifications such as OSCP, CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker), GPEN (GIAC Penetration Tester), CEPT (Certified Expert Penetration Tester), and ECSA (EC-Council Certified SOC Analyst).   

6. Scalability of VAPT Solution

Choose a scalable VAPT solution that can grow with your organization’s growing security needs. New applications, APIs, and other assets should be security tested without compromising the security requirements of existing assets.

7. Penetration Testing Report & Certificate

Ensure the company provides pentest certifications after a VAPT to showcase your security first nature. Companies give samples of VAPT reports, which can help make a better choice. 

8. Intuitive VAPT platform

Choose a VAPT company with an intuitive platform that addresses your needs & gives a bird’s-eye view of your application’s security. Look for options to check vulnerabilities, schedule scans, raise queries, provide customer support, and generate customizable reports. 

What Is The Cost Of A VAPT In India?

The cost of VAPT in India usually ranges between INR 16,000 to INR. 8,00,000. The pricing often varies based on different VAPT companies, the services provided, and your requirements. VAPT solutions like Astra Security provide upfront pricing for VAPT. 

Most companies offer pricing on demand that can be obtained by getting on a call with security representatives. If package pricing doesn’t fit your requirements, you can get personalized pricing from VAPT Solutions. 

Top VAPT Companies in India

1. Astra Security

Key Features:

• Pentest Capabilities: Web and Mobile Applications, Cloud Infrastructure, API, and Networks
• Manual Pentest: Yes
• Accuracy: Vetted scans for zero false positives
• Scan Behind Logins: Yes
• Compliance: PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC2, ISO 27001 and CERT-IN
• Cost: Starting at INR 16,000 
• Best For: Vulnerability assessments, penetration tests (manual & automated), and compliance scans for multiple digital assets. 

Astra Security is a NASSCOM-awarded leading VAPT provider that blends automated pentesting with the manual expertise of security testers. The vulnerability scanner scans for 9,300+ known vulnerabilities and generates AI test cases specific to your company based on the tech stack you use.

Astra Security is CERT-In empanelled to provide information security auditing services. It follows global vulnerability testing standards such as OWASP, SANS, PCI-DSS, & ISO 27001. Astra Security’s dashboard lets you check scan results, obtain real-time updates, and clear queries with security experts. The vulnerability scanner also comes with a readily available integration with your CI/CD pipeline.

Astra’s publicly verifiable VAPT certificate can be obtained after remediating all vulnerabilities found during the vulnerability assessment or penetration test. VAPT comes with vetted scan reports, which assures zero false positives. 

Pros

• Seamless integrations for Jira, Jenkins, Slack, GitHub & more.
• Customizable reporting with different styles for management & developers
• Scan results are vetted to weed out false positives.

Limitations

• Only 1-week trial is available at $7. 

2. Kratikal

Key Features:

• Pentest Capabilities: Web and Mobile Applications, Cloud Infrastructure, API, and Networks
• Manual Pentest: Yes
• Accuracy: False positives can be present
• Scan Behind Logins: Yes
• Compliance: PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SOC2, and ISO 27001
• Cost: Price on Quote
• Best For: VAPT, DMARC, Compliance

Kratikal is another CERT-In empanelled company that can provide manual and automated VAPT services. Kratikal also provides VAPT services for IoT and medical devices. Besides its VAPT services tool, it is well-known for its email authentication protocol, TDMARC.

Kratikal conducts compliance scans for ISO 27001, SOC2, PCI-DSS, and SOC2 & provides compliance reports and certifications. Other services include security awareness training sessions and a phishing incident report tool. 

Pros

• Accurate information in reports.
• Good support and service. 

Limitations

• No upfront pricing. 

3. SumaSoft

Key Features:

• Pentest Capabilities: Web & Mobile Applications, Cloud, IoT, and Networks
• Manual Pentest: Yes
• Accuracy: False positives can be present
• Scan Behind Logins: Yes
• Compliance: HIPAA, GLBA, NIST, ISO 27001
• Cost: Price on Quote
• Best For: VAPT, cloud, and managed security

Suma Soft is a CERT-In-empanelled provider of VAPT services. The company provides both automated and manual pentesting. Besides VAPT, the company also provides tools for hyper-automation and technical support for networks and desktops. 

Suma Soft’s VAPT is carried out after thoroughly analyzing the assets within scope to detect and exploit vulnerabilities. Exploitation techniques such as system hacking, evading IDS, and honeypots are deployed to exploit vulnerabilities. 

Pros

• Provides services besides VAPT. 
• Known for its mobile application development services.

Limitations

• The Company is not VAPT-focused.
• Upfront pricing is not provided.

Three Types Of VAPT In India

1. Grey box VAPT testing 

In grey-box VAPT, the ethical hacker only partially knows about the application and the network. Pentesters are required to rely on their intelligence to test, find, and exploit vulnerabilities within the application. It blends black-and-white VAPT testing and is less time-consuming than a black-box test. 

2. White box VAPT testing

White box VAPT pentesters fully know the application or network to be tested. This is a less time-consuming process than black-box since the tester has prior knowledge and information regarding the application. White box testing is generally helpful in detecting any oversights and gaps in implemented security. 

3. Black-box VAPT testing

In black-box VAPT testing, the ethical hacker does not know the application or its associated components. Black-box testing is more like an actual cyberattack by a hacker & gives an outside perspective to your security. Such testing is time-consuming since testers need to find relevant information, & look for vulnerabilities to exploit completely. 

Final Thoughts

With the rise of cyberattacks and threats to cybersecurity, it is evident that you need to invest in a good VAPT company for your organization’s security. Ensure the pentesters are qualified, check for reviews, and the scalability of the VAPT solution. 

We have listed some of the best CERT-In empanelled tools to help you meet your security testing requirements and global standards. Look for tools that provide an intuitive dashboard, detailed reports, and quick assistance. Keeping these in mind can help you make the best choice for your organization. 

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