Most pen tests find last year's threats. Yours should find tomorrow's.
Precursor Security runs a 24/7 physical SOC alongside its penetration testing team. The SOC watches real attacks land on UK organisations in real time. The pen testers replicate them. Your infrastructure gets tested against what adversaries are actually doing, not what they were doing eighteen months ago. CREST-accredited. UK-based. Fixed pricing from £2,500.
Penetration Testing Services UK.
Penetration testing is an authorised, structured attempt to find and exploit weaknesses in your systems before real attackers do.
Precursor Security delivers CREST-accredited penetration testing services across the UK, covering external networks, web applications, cloud environments, mobile apps, and internal infrastructure. Our testing is informed by live threat intelligence from our 24/7 SOC: the team observes real attacks daily and feeds that intelligence directly into how we test your defences.
New to security testing?
A penetration test is an authorised attempt by security specialists to break into your systems before a criminal does. You get a written report and clear recommendations on what to fix. Most clients complete their first test in under three weeks.
Choosing a Penetration Testing Company in the UK
CREST accreditation is the UK Government and NCSC recommended benchmark for offensive security providers. Fewer than 70 firms hold both SOC and Pentest accreditation globally. Precursor Security holds triple CREST accreditation: Penetration Testing, Vulnerability Assessment, and SOC. That makes it one of a handful of firms in the UK that can credibly deliver both sides of the security equation.
What that means for your purchase order: our consultants are individually assessed and certified by CREST, not just the organisation. You are buying tested expertise, not a brand.
Get a Free Scoping CallPenetration Testing
Network penetration testing services covering your external perimeter (internet-facing systems, firewalls, public IPs) and internal infrastructure. Suitable for annual compliance testing, pre-audit validation, and first-time assessments. Covers: external network, internal network, Active Directory, VPN.
Red Team Operations
Red teaming and adversarial emulation for organisations that already conduct annual penetration testing and need to validate whether their security controls hold against a patient, skilled adversary. MITRE ATT&CK aligned. Objectives-based: we test whether an attacker can reach your crown jewels, not just how many CVEs we can find.
Web & API Security
Web application penetration testing and API security assessment (REST, GraphQL, SOAP). Tests authentication, session management, input validation, and business logic. OWASP Top 10 coverage as standard, with CVSSv3 scoring throughout.
Social Engineering
Social engineering testing across phishing simulation, vishing (telephone-based social engineering), and physical intrusion testing. Tests staff awareness and physical security controls. Delivered as standalone or combined with a network penetration test.
Mobile & Wireless
Mobile application penetration testing for iOS and Android (OWASP MASVS standard) and wireless network penetration testing for WPA2/Enterprise environments. Identifies data leakage, insecure authentication, and traffic interception vulnerabilities.
Cloud & Config Reviews
Cloud penetration testing and configuration review for AWS, Azure, and M365 environments. Assessed against industry standard security benchmarks. Identifies exposed storage, over-privileged identities, misconfigured security groups, and audit logging gaps.
Not sure which type of testing you need?
Most clients start with a 30-minute scoping call. We identify the right assessments for your environment and hand you a written scope to take to Finance.
Investment Guide.
Fixed-price, itemised quotes provided after a free scoping call. No hidden fees, no day-rate surprises.
Penetration Testing
Typical: 2-day external network test. Web apps from £5,000 (3-5 days). Cloud assessments from £5,000.
External/internal network testing.
Web application assessments.
Fixed pricing. Free scoping call. Retest included.
Red Team Operations
Multi-week adversarial simulation. MITRE ATT&CK aligned. Objectives-based, not just vulnerability count.
Multi-vector adversarial simulation.
Conducted over 2 to 4 weeks.
Full-scope testing of people, process, and technology.
Social Engineering
Standalone or combined with network testing. Delivered as targeted campaigns.
Phishing campaign simulations.
Vishing (telephone) assessments.
Physical intrusion attempts.
Not sure what you need?
Our consultants will scope your environment and recommend the exact test required for your compliance and risk profile. No obligation, no jargon.
Red Teaming and Adversarial Simulation.
The fundamental weakness of isolated penetration testing is that adversaries do not operate in isolation. They adapt. They share tooling. They identify your sector's weakest controls and return to them.
Precursor's answer is structural: a 24/7 CREST-accredited SOC running alongside the offensive team. When a new intrusion technique lands in the UK, the pen testers know about it within hours, not at the next quarterly methodology review.
For CISOs evaluating red team providers: this is the difference between a test that validates yesterday's defences and one that pressures tomorrow's.
The Cost of Inaction.
The balance of advantage continues to shift toward well-resourced adversaries.
Verified Credentials
Trusted by organisations in
You need to know if your defences hold.
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. We will identify which tests apply to your environment, confirm scope in writing, and provide a fixed-price quote with no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about penetration testing, red teaming, and offensive security services.
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 provides remediation guidance to help your team fix 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.
CREST accreditation is the UK Government and NCSC recommended benchmark for offensive security providers. Fewer than 70 firms hold both SOC and Pentest accreditation globally. Check that the company holds CREST accreditation specifically for penetration testing (not just the organisation, but individually certified consultants), provides fixed-price quotes, and uses UK-based consultants without offshore sub-contracting. Ask to see a sample report. A credible firm will confirm scope in writing before testing begins.