Retest
Verifying that findings from a previous test have actually been fixed.
Fixes fail more often than people expect: a setting changed on one server but not its pair, a patch that rolled back, a configuration that a subsequent change undid.
Auditors and insurers increasingly ask for evidence of closure rather than evidence of testing, which makes the retest report the more valuable of the two documents.
Where this comes up
Retest sits inside our penetration testing work. If you are trying to work out what this means for your own environment rather than in the abstract, that is the page worth reading next, and a short call will get you a straight answer faster than either.
Related terms
Remediation Fixing the issues a test identified, in priority order. Penetration test An authorized simulated attack against your systems to find and demonstrate exploitable weaknesses before a real attacker does. Audit evidence The records that demonstrate a control was actually operating, not merely defined. Penetration testing requirement The obligation in several frameworks and insurance policies to have security testing performed periodically by an independent party.