Most pen tests find last year's threats. Yours should find tomorrow's.

Penetration testing in the UK typically ranges from £2,500 to £25,000+ depending on scope, test type, and provider quality. At Precursor Security, our CREST-accredited penetration testing starts from £2,500 for a 2-day external network assessment. Web application testing averages £5,000 for a 3-5 day engagement. Red team operations start from £15,000. We provide fixed-price, itemised quotes after a free scoping call with no day-rate surprises. For a full breakdown of what affects pen test pricing, see our penetration testing cost guide.

Cyber security testing is an umbrella term for security assessments that identify vulnerabilities in your IT systems before criminals exploit them. It includes penetration testing (ethical hacking of specific systems), red team operations (full-scope attack simulations), and configuration reviews. CREST accreditation is the UK benchmark for providers offering these services.

A vulnerability scan is automated: a tool checks your systems against a database of known issues and produces a report. A penetration test involves a human consultant who identifies vulnerabilities and attempts to exploit them, chaining issues together the way a real attacker would. Penetration testing finds what scanners miss, including business logic flaws, authentication bypasses, and chained vulnerabilities. CREST-accredited penetration testing is the standard accepted by UK regulators and insurers.

Annual penetration testing confirms your systems have the vulnerabilities your testers looked for, within the timeframe they were given. Red team operations test whether a patient, skilled adversary operating covertly over weeks can achieve a specific objective against your organisation. If your SOC has never had its detection capability pressured by a human adversary simulating real-world techniques, your annual pen test score does not tell you whether you would contain a breach. Red teaming tells you that.

Cyber security testing, commonly called a penetration test or pen test, is an authorised examination of your IT systems by certified security specialists. You likely need it if a cyber insurer, client contract, or compliance requirement (Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, PCI DSS) asks for evidence of independent testing. Precursor Security offers a free scoping call that takes 30 minutes and tells you exactly which assessments are relevant to your environment.

Most penetration tests take between 3 and 10 days of active testing, depending on what is being assessed. After testing, you receive two reports: an executive summary written in plain English for board-level readers, and a technical report for your IT team with specific remediation steps for each finding. Precursor Security includes a free retest to confirm your team has successfully fixed the critical issues identified.

CREST is the international accreditation body for cyber security testing. CREST-accredited companies employ individually certified consultants (CCT, CRT) who have passed rigorous practical exams. Choosing a CREST-accredited provider like Precursor Security ensures your test is conducted by qualified professionals following a recognised methodology, a requirement for many compliance frameworks and procurement processes. Fewer than 70 firms globally hold CREST accreditation for penetration testing and SOC.

Three factors determine penetration testing pricing in the UK. Scope: an external network test of 5 IP addresses costs less than an internal assessment of a 500-workstation Active Directory environment. Accreditation: CREST-accredited testing costs more than unaccredited testing, reflecting individually certified consultants, peer-reviewed methodology, and regulatory acceptance. Depth: automated scanning produces a report in hours but misses business logic flaws and chained vulnerabilities that only manual testing finds. At Precursor Security, all testing is manual, CREST-accredited, and fixed-price. External network assessments start from £2,500, web application testing from £5,000, and red team operations from £15,000.

If your organisation handles customer data, processes payments, operates in a regulated sector, or relies on web applications, the answer is almost certainly yes. Penetration testing is required or strongly recommended under PCI DSS, ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, GDPR, and NHS DSPT. Beyond compliance, regular testing identifies exploitable weaknesses before attackers find them, significantly reducing the risk of data breaches, ransomware, and operational disruption.