We’re proud to offer our CREST penetration testing services. Our experienced and qualified testers, who know much about penetration tests, will work with you to identify any vulnerabilities in your system and provide recommendations for remediation.
You can be confident that you are procuring a CREST penetration test provider that adheres to a specific code of conduct, ensuring high technical standards and service quality.
CREST enables professionals and organisations to build trust in the digital world by raising professional standards and providing measurable quality assurance for the worldwide cybersecurity industry, especially in the data and technical information security market.
What is CREST-accredited penetration testing?
CREST penetration testing is an assessment carried out by CREST accredited pen testing company against a computer system or network to identify vulnerabilities and control weaknesses.
CREST-certified penetration testing is the gold standard for penetration testing services. It is a rigorous assessment and accreditation process that is independently audited and endorsed. Only organisations with high technical ability, procedures, and controls are accredited.
As a CREST member organisation, we adhere to a strict code of conduct, meaning you can trust us to deliver a world-class service. Our penetration testers are highly skilled and experienced professionals well-equipped to conduct comprehensive and effective tests. This gives businesses peace of mind that their assets, including web applications and operating systems, are secure and their data is safe.
CREST member companies sign a professional code of conduct and demonstrate their skill set, quality control, processes, and delivery process. Every CREST member company goes through rigorous checks before offering CREST-approved pen testing under CREST accreditation.
Cyber attacks are not a matter of if, but when. Be prepared.
Box-ticking approach to penetration tests is long gone. We help you identify, analyse and remediate vulnerabilities so you don’t see the same pentest report next time.
Why is CREST certification important?
Having CREST certification for your business demonstrates your commitment to high technical standards and adherence to the code and conduct of CREST.
CREST is the international accreditation and certification authority for technical information security professionals. It sets and maintains the high standards of capability and professional practice in information security that are essential for providing confidence to users of information systems.
There are several related topics we have covered extensively you might want to explore:
CREST penetration testing guide and methodology
Learn about the CREST Defensible Penetration Test (CDPT) and business benefits
What is a CREST-approved provider, and why choosing a CREST-certified company is important?
Understanding the CREST Penetration Testing Maturity Model
Your guide to CREST vulnerability assessments
CREST and CHECK Penetration Testing Explained – Which is Right for Your Business?
CREST Certification benefits, cost, OSCP equivalent and other details
Importance of Cyphere’s third-party security testing for your business
Procuring third-party penetration testing is important for your business because it provides an unbiased and independent assessment of your security posture.
A third-party pen tester from CREST-approved companies will have no affiliation with your organisation, nor with any product solution selling motives, and will be looking at your systems with fresh eyes, which can often lead to identifying security flaws and vulnerabilities that you may not have been aware of.
These business benefits delivered through Cyphere’s CREST penetration tests are:
- Identifies security weaknesses: Penetration testing can help identify vulnerabilities in your systems and infrastructure that malicious actors could exploit.
- Validates security controls: Penetration testing can help validate the effectiveness of your security controls by attempting to bypass or circumvent them.
- Improves employee awareness: Penetration testing can help improve employee awareness of security risks and procedures.
- Tests new technologies: Penetration testing can be used to test new technologies before they are deployed in production environments.
- Provides a baseline for future testing: Penetration testing provides a baseline for future testing efforts, so you can track your progress in identifying and fixing vulnerabilities.
- Meets regulatory compliance requirements: Many industries are required to undergo penetration testing by regulations such as PCI DSS, ISO 27001, Commission Audits, HIPAA, and GDPR.
- Provides peace of mind: Knowing that a qualified penetration tester has tested your systems can give you peace of mind that your organisation is protected from cyber threats.
- Can help you win new business: Many businesses require penetration testing from their vendors as part of their due diligence process. By having your organisation penetration tested, you can make yourself more attractive to potential customers.
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Show your customers and supply chain you can manage application risks with secure coding practices.
CREST-accredited security experts
The testers conducting assessments carry their registered ethical security testers’ qualifications beyond CREST’s certifications. These may include certifications from the CREST certification body, offensive security, ISC2, Microsoft, AWS and other organisations.
Our certified pen testers have professional certifications around various security domains, including but not limited to:
- OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional)
- CREST registered penetration testers certifications such as CRT, CPSA, and CCT.
- Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) from EC Council
- CISSP from ISC2
- Burp-certified security practitioner
- Kubernetes and cloud security associates
- AWS-certified security speciality
- Other internationally recognised accreditation related to penetration testing, cyber incident response, and threat intelligence.
Our experience involves serving organisations globally at various business stages; these scenarios include:
- M&A due diligence
- Business as usual assessments (annually or upon change)
- Advanced digital transformation
- Multi-cloud security strategy reviews
- Supply chain due diligence
- Sector-specific cyber health checks
- SaaS solution onboarding security reviews
Cyphere’s CREST penetration testing services
The following are the different CREST penetration testing services offered by Cyphere:
Network Pen Testing
Our comprehensive network penetration testing services are designed to assess your network’s internal and external security.
By identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities, we can help you identify and fix critical security issues before attackers can use them. This type of assessment includes external penetration testing and internal penetration testing.
Firewall Security Assessment
We take a comprehensive and holistic approach to firewall security assessment. We understand that to provide truly effective security, your firewall must be configured and deployed in the most optimum way possible.
Web Application Pen Testing
We use various techniques to pentest web applications and also identify API security vulnerabilities, including manual testing, scanning, and fuzzing. Our team of experienced Web pen testers is well-versed in identifying security issues.
Cloud Penetration Test
Our cloud pentest service is the best in the business because we have a team of experienced and certified professionals who identify emerging threats and known vulnerabilities and demonstrate how to exploit vulnerabilities in cloud-based systems safely. We extensively cover Azure pen testing, AWS penetration testing, GCP pen testing, SaaS penetration testing and Office 365 security reviews.
Mobile Penetration Test
Our mobile application pentest service is the most comprehensive coverage of device level and mobile application vulnerabilities. We use various assessment methods and tools to identify all potential vulnerabilities in your mobile apps, including those that traditional security tests may not detect.
Red Team Operations
Red teaming operations is the process of assuming the role of an adversary to identify an organisation’s vulnerabilities and potential weaknesses. Our team of experienced analysts provides red team assessments to help clients anticipate, prevent and mitigate risks.
Threat Intelligence Assessments
This offering includes carrying out checks without providing prior information to the customer’s Security Operations Centre staff. It aims to measure the current attack surface and validate the effectiveness of an organisation’s logging, monitoring and alerting mechanisms.
Why choose Cyphere for CREST penetration testing services?
Cyphere, a CREST-accredited company, offers an alternative approach to the industry’s standard report and run’ penetration services. This is based on our experience across various sectors and understanding customer problems regarding scheduling collisions, detailed reports addressing varying audiences, reporting deadlines, challenges to remediate risks and the correct language for the right audience.
- Independent security provider We’re an independent security provider, so you can be confident that our findings are objective and unbiased. As a CREST pen testing services provider, we ensure that our approach is independent and not influenced by third-party reselling or product push interests. We also have a proven track record of success, having helped countless businesses strengthen their security posture through our pen testing and threat intelligence services.
- No retest & cancellation fees We pride ourselves on our ability to provide a no-retest policy so you know that your system is secure. In addition, we charge no cancellation fees, so you can be sure that you are getting the best possible value for your money. With our commitment to providing the best possible service, you can be sure that you are making the right choice when you choose Cyphere.
- Free debrief calls To give you peace of mind, we offer free debrief calls after each engagement so that you can ask your questions and get insights from our team of experts. With Cyphere on your side, you can rest assured that your network is as secure as possible.
- Risk Remediation Plans We provide comprehensive data protection and risk remediation plans to help you mitigate the risks associated with your digital assets. In addition, our team of experts is constantly updated on the latest vulnerabilities and exploits, so you can be confident that your systems are secure.
- No muss, no fuss approach Our no-muss, no-fuss approach will do the job without hassle. Our team is experienced and knowledgeable, and we’ll ensure your system is secure from any potential threats.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on CREST-approved pen testing
What is CREST certification?
CREST is a certification offered by the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to organisations that meet specific cybersecurity criteria. The CREST certification is intended to demonstrate that an organisation has implemented best practices in information security and can effectively protect its systems and networks from all cyber attack threats.
Organisations with CREST pentest certification are authorised to provide cyber security services, including CREST penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and forensic analysis.
Should we fix all of the vulnerabilities that are reported?
Cyphere offers free risk remediation guidance support after all our pen tests.
As tempting as it might be to try and fix every vulnerability as soon as it’s discovered, it’s not always possible – or practical. This is why a business risk appetite must be considered before starting the never-ending ‘fix all’ cycle. Vulnerability triage and risk remediation processes require understanding asset criticality and the impact of findings from pen tests.
How much of your Penetration Testing is Automated vs. Manual?
Pen testing is a process of identifying and exploiting security vulnerabilities in systems to assess the security posture of those systems.
While automated software tools can help identify potential vulnerabilities, most of the work in our CREST penetration testing is still performed manually by skilled testers. The entire pen testing process includes identifying targets, researching vulnerabilities, and exploiting them to access target systems in line with security testing methodologies.
How do we validate vulnerabilities have been remediated?
Cyphere performs vulnerability scans after completing the remediation advice process to validate that vulnerabilities have been remediated. This will help ensure the vulnerabilities are addressed and the system is secure. Additionally, it’s essential to regularly test the systems’ security to identify any new vulnerabilities that may have arisen since the last scan.
What are the goals of a penetration test?
A penetration test aims to identify vulnerabilities in an information system that an attacker could exploit. A penetration tester will attempt to access the system using any means possible, including exploiting known vulnerabilities or guessing passwords.
Is pen testing disruptive to our environment?
Penetration testers take steps to minimise environmental impact by working with clients to develop a plan and using reliable tools and manual approaches to identify security flaws.
As a CREST-certified company, we know how simulated cyber attack scenarios may cause issues in production environments. Based on our experience, we ensure that every detail is checked to minimise the impact with excellent communication and project management skill-set.
Denial of Service or low-level attacks are explicitly out of scope for all of our assessments.
How do we prepare for penetration tests?
Preparation for a pentests can vary depending on the organisation and its specific needs. However, in general, some key steps should be taken to prepare a pen test:
- Identify the assets that will be tested and ensure any fragile purchases are noted.
- Understand and double-check the objectives, including test basis and testing types with customer contact.
- Exchange details around the point of contact, including escalation point of communications during the assessment.
- Develop and share a CREST pen test project plan with the customer. It includes details about our prerequisites, various phases in the project, resourcing and scheduling details and contacts.
- Schedule a kick-off meeting to ensure everything is in place before the pen test commences.
- Post technical delivery, we schedule debrief calls and retests to ensure the customer is aware of possible situations and outcomes.
Get in touch to schedule a strategy call, an annual pen test or discuss security concerns with our security consultants directly.
Harman Singh is a security professional with over 15 years of consulting experience in both public and private sectors.
As the Managing Consultant at Cyphere, he provides cyber security services to retailers, fintech companies, SaaS providers, housing and social care, construction and more. Harman specialises in technical risk assessments, penetration testing and security strategy.
He regularly speaks at industry events, has been a trainer at prestigious conferences such as Black Hat and shares his expertise on topics such as ‘less is more’ when it comes to cybersecurity. He is a strong advocate for ensuring cyber security as an enabler for business growth.
In addition to his consultancy work, Harman is an active blogger and author who has written articles for Infosecurity Magazine, VentureBeat and other websites.
