Practical Web Pentest Professional (PWPP) | TCM Security Certification Review
Practical Web Pentest Tester (PWPP)/Practical Web Pentest Professional (PWPT) — TCM Security Certification Review
Introduction
The Practical Web Pentest Professional (PWPP) certification, previously known as the Practical Web Penetration Tester (PWPT), is specifically designed to validate a candidate’s skills in conducting professional-level web application penetration tests.
This certification designed for individuals with prior experience in web application penetration testing. It aims to validate the ability to perform comprehensive web application security assessments, ensuring that certified professionals possess the necessary skills to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in real-world scenarios.
What convinced me to take this cert?
for the backgound story, In 2017, I started doing bug bounty part-time. In 2019, I temporarily stopped cybersecurity work because I was given an opportunity to work as a Web Developer. Since then, I didn’t have time for bug bounties due to my full-time job. It went well for two(2) years, but after four(4) years, while web development jobs remained stable in the industry, cybersecurity careers started booming in 2023 and 2024 in my country. All my friends were getting into cybersecurity, landing well-paid corporate jobs as pentesters. That year, my dream of being in cybersecurity started haunting me.
I tried to find a job in the cybersecurity industry, but it didn’t goes as well. Even though I had pentesting skills, they weren’t enough to get me into the industry. I was immediately rejected once they noticed I didn’t have a certification.
That’s when I realized the game. Companies still don’t want to invest in someone who only has skills. In fact, most HR don’t even understand what they’re asking to candidates. I remember an interview for a pentester role where the manager told me that bug bounty is not related to pentesting. They asked me questions like “What is XSS, CSRF, SQL injection?” but didn’t understand the role of bug bounty in pentesting.
They also told me that most of their employees were bug bounty hunters, so they asked what made me different from them. In my head, I wanted to tell them that I could pentest using telekinesis, do bug bounty without touching a mouse and keyboard.
After that, I decided pursued certification and took it as a challenge like i added to my goal this year (2025). If I didn’t pass the exam, at least I would know what was missing in my skills.
Why I chose TCM Security Certifications?
As I mentioned above, certifications are important in cybersecurity. Unlike professions such as doctors, military personnel, or lawyers, IT professionals don’t have licenses to prove their expertise. Therefore, investing in certifications and treating them as a license is necessary. Many of you know this reality — it is what it is. So take it as a challenge to test your skills and prove your value to HR. But how can you prove it if the exams are not realistic? That’s where TCM comes in. It provides a realistic exam, which is why I chose it.
Preparation
I started gathering information about the exam structure and flow since it was my first time getting cert. I didn’t find much information because people don’t want to spoil it for students which i understand. I only found reviews, but they didn’t help much since they didn’t contain relevant details. So, I started watching the modules on Practical Web Hacking & API Web Hacking. I didn’t watch them all since I was already familiar with most of the topics. I only watched the videos on topics I wasn’t familiar with. However, these videos won’t help you much — they are just an introduction. They don’t provide golden knowledge, but at least they give a great explanation of attack types enough to understand it.
The Structure
To respect the creators, I won’t provide information that isn’t publicly available. During the exam, you are given an scope to test. The exam is realistic — you need to find vulnerabilities in the web app, ranging from informational to critical. If you are a Web Pentester, treat it as a VAPT engagement. If you are a Bug Bounty Hunter, treat it like a Bug Bounty Program. Of course, there are also out-of-scope areas that you are not allowed to test. The labs are stable, and if something breaks, you can reset the machine but it takes 5 — 15mins before it fully reset.
In the exam, you are given three(3) days to test for vulnerabilities and another two(2) days to create a report. The exam is designed not to trick you but to test your abilities and what you’ve learned in the real world. The exam is for people who already have experience in Web Pentesting & Bug Bounty Hunting. If you are confident in your skills, I encourage you to try it. If not, this article will help you.
The Experience on PWPT/PWPP
Given that the creator is TCM, the exam is fair enough for intermediates. There are no flags (meaning there is no guide). Unlike capture-the-flag challenges, where you only need to collect 4–5 flags to pass, in this exam, you must report all your findings. But don’t worry — there are rules of engagement (ROE) that tell you all what you need to know (which i can’t discuss here). However, you can only read them after the exam timer starts.
What if you fail? Good question. If you fail, it means you missed something to test. its important to dig deeper in the application that given for you to tests, You just need to read the feedback from TCM to know what to do on your next attempt. The exam environment remains the same for the second attempt (its takes a month or year to update the lab or create new ones), so your effort won’t go to waste. It’s okay to fail on your first attempt. I accepted the risk of failing my first attempt just to gather information about the exam. Since the environment wouldn’t change for the second attempt, I could focus on what I missed on the first attempt.
The exams needs a troubleshooting & debugging skills in order to analyze the response and behaviour of the web application. I started my exam on 9 PM (Wednesday) after my work. I tested for three hours straight but find nothing. After two more hours, I managed to find some vulnerabilities with low to moderate severity. After five hours and just two vulnerabilities, I decided to take a break, sleep for eight(8) hours, eat, and clean my room to make sure my mind was focused before i continue. When I started to retested. After 24 hours, I luckily found many high-impact vulnerabilities that I believed were enough to pass the exam. after 3 days, i received a message that i failed the exam thats because “I believed i have enough findings to pass the exam” i manage to find unintended but i missed some criticals vulnerabilities, in my retake i manage to find what i missed on just 20 mins of retesting (the feedback are help me to identify these findings) but this time i don’t waste the time i still find if there are something missing or hidden vulnerabilities that i overlooked.
Then, I started writing the professional report (which crucial to pass the exam), which ended up being 30+ pages and took more than 4 hours to complete. I think it could have been finished faster if I had taken screenshots of all the steps while reproducing the vulnerabilities. Instead, I had to go back and take screenshots while writing the report. Take note that proof of concept are important as also remedation & recommendations.
They will give you tempalate for format but the template was given is for internal pentesting like network, active directory, etc. but not for web app pentests you still have a lot to change, for me i added cvss score, cwe-id on each findings and complete description and steps to reproduce with evidence as screen shots.
What I learned from the exam?
During the exam, with a little bit of pressure, I noticed the gaps in my methodology. The exam helped me improve my web app analytical skills, which are crucial in Web App Pentesting when working within a limited time frame. While methodology + recon are the standard approach to web app pentesting, adding web app analytics improves critical thinking and helps enumerate possible attacks in the shortest time.
If you are capable of accurately identifying potential vulnerabilities in a web application’s features, you can focus your methodology and recon efforts on those entry points to reduce the testing time frame.
Tips & Advice
If you plan to take this exam its much better to defined your goal clearly, it will motivate you to pass the exam, do not take the exam unprepared, make sure you have solid foundation of security testing approach (methodology).
Make sure you don’t miss something, when you test the vulnerability make you sure to validate it twice, the exam also assess if you really understand what you tested and what you reported.
The exam made to test your ability & methodology, this also your chance to test your ability or you have something you need to fix on your skills. If you fail take a note and reconsider how you assess the application fix the gap on your methodology think what you missed and how you look a vulnerability, make it real engagement and disregard the time during exam, do not overthink it. Accept that you will possibly fail for the first attempt but don’t give up, if you can finish it as first try its much better.
if you think can’t do it for the second try, they offer Practical Bug Bounty Course crafted by TCM Security and Intigriti. This comprehensive course dives into identifying and responsibly exploiting application vulnerabilities, laying a solid foundation in Web Application Architecture and delving into the crucial OWASP Top 10.
Resources:
Contact:
Email: ph-hitachi@wearehackerone.com
Twitter: https://x.com/PhHitachi
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/phhitachi