A vulnerability assessment actually compliments a penetration test in many ways. First, a vulnerability assessment can identify the weaknesses within your environment, providing you with valuable information on security vulnerabilities that you need to fix. Secondly, a security consultant can, but may not always, use some or all of the results of a vulnerability assessment to assist with their penetration test.

In many cases, consultants that perform a penetration test also include a vulnerability assessment to provide additional value during security assessment. If a consultant is performing an internal security assessment, it’s best to maximize the value of this time and service by identifying as much as they can to help your organisation.