Full Report
Have a keen interest on scanning over 12000 IP’s a week for vulnerabilities? Excited about the thought of assessing over 100 web applications for common vulnerabilities? If so, an exciting, as well as demanding, position has become available within the Managed Vulnerability Scanning (MVS) team at SensePost. Job Title: Vulnerability Management Analyst Salary Range: Industry standard, commensurate with experience Location: Johannesburg/Pretoria, South Africa We are looking for a talented person to join our MVS team to help manage the technology that makes up our Broadview suite and, more importantly, finding vulnerabilities, interpreting the results and manually verifying them. We are after talented people with a broad skill set to join our growing team of consultants. Our BroadView suite of products consists of our extensive vulnerability scanning engine, which looks at both the network-layer and the application layer, as well as our extensive DNS footprinting technologies.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: SensePost Hiring Signals Growth in Managed Vulnerability Scanning (MVS) in South Africa
## Summary
Cybersecurity firm SensePost is actively recruiting a Vulnerability Management Analyst for its Managed Vulnerability Scanning (MVS) team in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area of South Africa. This hiring move indicates internal capacity expansion and investment in managing and enhancing their proprietary BroadView scanning suite, which spans network, application, and DNS footprinting.
## Key Details
- Date: March 4, 2013 (Publication Date)
- Companies Involved: SensePost
- Category: Company Announcement | Talent Acquisition
## The Story
SensePost is seeking a skilled professional to join its MVS team, highlighting the high volume of scanning activities (over 12,000 IPs and 100 web applications weekly). The role requires managing the BroadView technology suite while focusing heavily on vulnerability identification, interpretation, and manual verification. The required skills suggest a need for both technical depth (OS knowledge, scripting a bonus) and strong client communication abilities, indicating a service-oriented focus for their scanning product.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **SensePost:** The hiring suggests a direct scaling of service delivery capabilities within their MVS offering, likely driven by client demand or a strategic push to secure more large-scale contracts requiring high-volume scanning. Investment in technical talent is key to maintaining the quality of their proprietary BroadView platform output.
### For Competitors
- Competitors in the South African MVS space will face SensePost fielding a growing, highly skilled team capable of handling significant scanning loads. SensePost is prioritizing analysts who can bridge the gap between automated results and executive comprehension, setting a potential benchmark for service quality.
### For Customers
- Current and potential SensePost Managed Vulnerability Scanning customers can expect increased capacity and potentially faster turnaround times for complex assessments, backed by experts who can validate automated findings.
### For the Market
- This signals sustained demand for comprehensive vulnerability management services in the South African/African cybersecurity market, particularly those that integrate network, application, and intelligence gathering (DNS footprinting).
## Technical Implications
The role emphasizes hands-on management of the BroadView suite, covering both network and application layer scanning, alongside "extensive DNS footprinting technologies." The preference for scripting skills (sed, awk, Python, Ruby) shows that the role is not purely operational; it involves maintaining or evolving tools that automate complex analysis workflows. The requirement for manual verification highlights a commitment to reducing false positives inherent in purely automated scanning.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** SensePost positions itself as a high-volume, in-depth scanning provider, leveraging proprietary technology (BroadView) and expert validation. The MVS focus indicates a move toward subscription or retainer-based recurring revenue streams rather than one-off pentests.
- **Competitive Advantage:** The advantage lies in combining scale (12k IPs/week) with quality assurance (manual verification) and proprietary technology that incorporates intelligence gathering (DNS footprinting).
- **Challenges:** Relying on niche, highly skilled talent in a growing market like South Africa can present recruitment and retention challenges, which this job posting directly addresses.
## Industry Reactions
*(Note: As this is a 2013 hiring notice, generalized reactions focus on the activity type.)*
Such specialized hiring is typically viewed positively by security analysts, as it signals market stability and growth within the governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) and proactive defense sectors, which rely heavily on MVS services.
## Future Outlook
SensePost is likely aiming to secure anchor clients requiring continuous security posture assessment. Success in filling this role will determine the speed at which they can onboard new, large MVS contracts and further develop the BroadView platform's capabilities, particularly around application and infrastructure intelligence.
## For Security Professionals
This job serves as an indicator of strong local demand in South Africa for security experts skilled in vulnerability management operations, report translation (technical to business risk), and possessing foundational programming skills for automation/tool efficacy. Certifications like PCI-QSA are noted as advantageous, pointing to compliance-driven workloads.