GuidePenetration TestingPDF · 294 KB

Penetration Testing Buyer’s Guide

How to buy a penetration test — provider questions, CREST vs standard explained, red flags to avoid, report quality criteria and a scorecard.

About This Resource

Choosing a penetration testing provider is hard to get right on price alone. This guide covers the questions that separate a genuine manual test from a re-badged vulnerability scan, explains what CREST accreditation actually certifies and when you need it, lists the red flags that predict a bad engagement, and sets out exactly what a good report should contain. A scoring scorecard lets you compare shortlisted providers fairly against the same criteria.

What's Included

  • Twelve scoping questions to ask every shortlisted provider
  • CREST vs standard testing explained, with guidance on when accreditation matters
  • Six red flags that predict a poor testing engagement
  • What a good penetration test report contains, section by section
  • Fixed-price expectations and a fillable provider evaluation scorecard

Who Is This For?

Business owners and IT decision-makers at UK SMEs comparing penetration testing providers and quotes for the first time.

Technology Stack

Powered by industry-leading technologies including SolarWinds, Cloudflare, BitDefender, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Cisco Meraki to deliver secure, scalable, and reliable IT solutions.

SolarWinds
Cloudflare
BitDefender
AWS
Hono
Opus
Office 365
Microsoft
Cisco Meraki
Microsoft Azure

Latest Articles

9
  • Google Ads & PPC

Google Ads Attribution: A UK Business Guide to Understanding Which Campaigns Actually Drive Sales in 2026

9 Sep, 2026

Every UK business running paid search eventually has the same meeting. Someone opens the Google Ads interface, sorts the campaign list by conversions, points...

Read more
8
  • SEO

Technical SEO Audit: A UK Business Guide to Finding and Fixing the Issues Killing Your Rankings in 2026

8 Sep, 2026

There is a particular kind of frustration that shows up in UK marketing meetings about eighteen months into a content programme. The blog is publishing...

Read more
7
  • Web Development

Website Accessibility Compliance: A UK Business Guide to Meeting WCAG 2.2 and Avoiding Legal Risk in 2026

7 Sep, 2026

Most UK businesses discover the state of their website accessibility in one of three ways: a customer complaint, a procurement questionnaire they cannot answer...

Read more

Enquiry Received!

Thank you for getting in touch. A member of our team will review your enquiry and get back to you within 24 hours.