Autonomous penetration testing
Autonomous penetration testing
Autonomous penetration testing performs the work of a penetration tester - mapping the attack surface, investigating leads, chaining findings, and proving impact - without a human operator directing each step. That autonomy is what lets it run continuously, on every deploy, rather than as a scheduled engagement a few times a year.
What "autonomous" actually means here
It's not "unsupervised and untrustworthy" - it's scoped, logged, and auditable by design. Impactr only tests the hosts, endpoints, and roles you authorize, every request and decision is recorded, and destructive actions are gated and opt-in per target.
Why the cadence is the point
A manual pentest is a snapshot; your application ships dozens of times before the next one starts. Autonomous testing closes that gap by running on the same cadence your team ships at, so new code is exercised before attackers find it - not on next year's calendar.
Proof over assumption
Because there's no human in the loop deciding what's worth writing up, every finding has to clear a higher bar to reach a report: a reproducible, working exploit. Unproven leads are dropped, not padded in behind a severity score.
What Impactr does here
- Runs continuously as you ship - no scheduling, no waiting for a slot
- Scoped to the hosts, endpoints, and roles you authorize
- Fully logged and auditable - every request and decision recorded
- Re-proves fixed findings automatically to catch regressions
See it work on your own application - Impactr investigates, chains, and proves impact with reproducible evidence.
Join the waitlistFAQ
Does autonomous penetration testing replace a manual pentest?
It doesn't need to. Autonomous testing covers the gap between scheduled engagements - most mature security programs use both: periodic expert-led pentests for deep, bespoke assurance, and autonomous testing for continuous coverage in between.
How is scope controlled if there's no human directing each test?
Scope is defined upfront, per target - the hosts, endpoints, and authenticated roles you authorize. Impactr never tests outside that boundary, and destructive actions are gated and opt-in.
What happens to a finding that can't be proven?
It's dropped. Autonomous testing only reports a finding once it has demonstrated real impact with a working, reproducible exploit - not flagged possibilities that need manual triage.