Key Takeaways:
- Industry Rankings Highlight Netragard. In recent analysis of leading penetration testing vendors for 2025, Netragard received top marks for its commitment to expert-led testing, proprietary methodology (Real Time Dynamic Testing™), and measurable client results.
- Expert Driven Testing Matters Most. Top-rated penetration testing vendors use realistic, manual testing methodologies that mirror actual cyber attacker tactics, focusing on context-rich analysis and actionable results far beyond automated scans or compliance checklists.
- Real Penetration Testing Delivers Tangible ROI. A genuine penetration test costing $20,000 to $40,000 for SMBs can mitigate breaches that average $4.8 million in damages per incident, demonstrating an ROI exceeding 12,000% when effective security is implemented.
- Vendor Selection Requires Deep Due Diligence by Both Sides. The best penetration test companies avoid pricing based solely on IPs, URLs, or seats and instead scope projects according to the real attack surface and customer objectives.
- Industry Leadership and Specialty Sets Leading Firms Apart. Top vendors stand out for credentials, thought leadership, reporting clarity, technical depth in areas like social engineering, identity infrastructure, and embedded systems. Many have published research and tools, spoken at major conferences, and offer flexible solutions for diverse business needs.
- Long-Term Security Partnership Is the Goal. Elite penetration testing firms emphasize knowledge transfer, transparent reporting, and ongoing advisory relationships – transforming the engagement from a one-time transaction into an enduring security partnership for clients.
With cybercrime damages now reaching $10.5 trillion annually in 2025 and the average cost of a data breach hitting $4.8 million, selecting the right penetration testing firm has never been more critical. Genuine penetration testing provides a true measure of your cybersecurity defenses revealing precisely what works, what doesn’t, and where attackers have the opportunity to strike. Yet not all tests are created equal, and very few vendors meet the necessary standards.
Top penetration testing companies use realistic methodologies to find the same exploitable flaws that threat actors do, making the difference between real security, and a false sense of security. This comprehensive guide evaluates the top 10 penetration testing companies for 2025, using rigorous criteria to help you select a vendor that delivers real benefit, not a false sense of security, and that’s a good fit for you.
What Sets Them Apart From The Rest
Before diving into our rankings, it’s important to understand what distinguishes exceptional penetration testing vendors from the rest. Top penetration testing companies don’t just run automated tools, verify the results, and generate high-volume reports. They understand that compliance does not equate to good security, but it’s often a natural byproduct. Their approaches to penetration testing go beyond the industry norm to provide coverage on par with the capabilities of real-world threat actors. Anything less would be insufficient.
Top penetration testing vendors maintain high levels of expertise with exclusive hiring processes. Typically, prospects looking to join the teams are required to prove their abilities by delivering complex mock projects that include full detail reporting. This allows the vendor to assess the applicant’s communication skills, writing style, and vulnerability discovery/exploitation expertise ensuring customers only receive the best possible service.
Top vendors are able to align their technical expertise with their customers’ unique business requirements. They don’t operate in a vacuum, devoid of context, they take time to understand a customer’s distinctive operational environment, industry-specific risks, compliance drivers, and real threat landscape. This understanding impacts every aspect of the engagement, from customizing attacks to emulate real adversarial behavior, to delivering findings in a format that drives actionable and impactful remediation.
When done right, the value of penetration testing goes far beyond finding vulnerabilities. It delivers context-rich intelligence that drives strategic decision-making, strengthens resilience, and supports lasting security improvements. It provides insight into how attackers are likely to move through organizations and facilitates the creation of effective early detection and response capabilities. These vendors understand that breach prevention is an impossible to attain goal, but damage prevention is absolutely within reach. Their knowledge transfer equips internal teams so they can maintain and build upon the gains achieved. This transforms penetration testing from a one-time transaction into a genuine and effective security partnership.
In the end, the return on investment (ROI) of good security is measured against the cost of damages from a single successful compromise. In 2024, that cost was an average of $4.8 million per incident, while the average penetration test for small and medium sized businesses (SMB) customers ranged from $20,000 to $40,000, yielding an ROI of roughly 12,000% when damages are prevented. That ROI scales directly with vendor quality, and cost scales directly with testing workload requirements. The only definitive way to know if your security can withstand real-world threat actors is to face them, either through the costly damages of an actual breach or through a controlled, high-quality penetration test that emulates one.
How We Evaluated And Ranked These Companies
Evaluating penetration testing companies is challenging, even for us. Most companies are tight lipped about their inner workings and if asked, will embellish their capabilities always presenting themselves as the best in class. This is what they do with their marketing, when selling to customers, and even in their contracts.
Fortunately, it’s not hard to differentiate real, expert-driven penetration testing from automated scans marketed as “pen tests”. Real penetration testing relies on expert analysis and an accurate estimate of workload grounded in a customer’s objectives, architecture, and attack surface. Scans don’t require that level of scope accuracy and can’t replicate genuine advisal capabilities. As with any service where expertise is the product, providers need to evaluate real scope before they price: a roofing company will examine a roof before providing a quote and penetration testing should be no different.
As a rule, you can’t determine the cost for a genuine penetration test by counting IPs, URLs, pages, or APIs. That’s volume or per-seat licensing logic for software, not expert human labor. Count-based pricing ignores workload entirely; one IP might have no connectable services, while another might be home to a complex application that requires weeks for proper testing. If a vendor uses a count-based pricing methodology, or a methodology that doesn’t actually measure workload, then their services will be little more than a vetted automated vulnerability scan that masquerades as a real penetration test.
Of course there are other criteria we took into consideration, all of which are covered in our vendor selection whitepaper. This is an updated version of the same whitepaper that was featured in Forbes back in 2009 and provides an in-depth understanding of why we selected the vendors listed below.
Why Would We Recommend Other Vendors?
Our customers expect genuine, impact-focused penetration testing services, not a “best-in-class” pitch that turns out to be a vulnerability scan masquerading as a penetration test. When asked, we point our customers to a short list of firms that meet our own standards for 2025: rigorous scoping, expert human testing with a research approach, transparent reporting, knowledge transfer, and true protective benefit.
As experts, we have a duty of care to help organizations make solid decisions, even when that means recommending a different firm.
Comparing Top Penetration Testing Companies
This section provides a quick summary of the Top 10 Penetration Testing Companies for 2025. If you think we’ve missed a vendor, please let us know who they are, and we’ll take it under consideration for an update.
| Vendor | Ideal Customer (size & type) | Industries / Regulatory Drivers |
|---|---|---|
| Netragard | Any security-conscious organization from 2-person startups and small businesses through mid-market, enterprise, Global 2000; tiered services (Silver to Ruby Red) ensure high-value testing at most budgets | All industries without exception; serves both compliance-driven needs (PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, ISO 27001, etc.) and organizations seeking advanced testing with real adversary emulation. |
| TrustedSec | Mid-market to enterprise that wants senior, boutique talent; multi-site orgs | Enterprise/regulated; PCI, SOX, HIPAA; heavy AD footprint; facilities needing physical tests |
| Black Hills Information Security (BHIS) | Security teams that want coaching while testing; mid-market to enterprise; remote-friendly | SaaS, tech, healthcare, higher-ed, state/local |
| CQURE | Microsoft-centric orgs (AD, Windows, M365, Entra ID/Azure AD); EMEA-heavy but global | Any MS-heavy vertical; GDPR; identity risk programs |
| Coalfire | US federal contractors, SaaS/ISVs, and regulated enterprises aligning offensive work to audits | Finance, healthcare, manufacturing; compliance needs including FDIC, FTC Safeguards Rule, PCI DSS |
| Red Siege | Mid-market to enterprise organizations seeking business-focused security testing; security teams wanting offensive training | Tech, healthcare, higher-ed, state/local; PCI, HIPAA, SOX; identity/AD hardening programs |
| Atredis Partners | Technology companies, device manufacturers, and organizations with embedded systems/IoT; clients needing deep technical research | Technology, automotive, medical device, critical infrastructure, SCADA; specialized compliance for embedded systems |
| IOActive | OEMs and enterprises with IoT/embedded/automotive/ICS products; safety-critical systems | Automotive (UNECE R155), medical (FDA), industrial/SCADA, aerospace/satcom |
| Specter Ops | Enterprise and government agencies with complex Active Directory/identity infrastructure; organizations needing APT simulation | Fortune 500, federal contractors, financial services; FedRAMP, identity-focused compliance, Active Directory security |
| Bishop Fox | Large enterprises with dynamic external footprint; want continuous exposure mgmt + manual validation | Tech, finance, media, retail, healthcare; M&A-active firms |
The 10 Best Penetration Testing Companies For 2025
1. Netragard
Founded: 2006 | HQ: U.S. | Reach: Global
Best for: Needs ranging from regulatory Compliance (PCI, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.) to genuine Red Team Operations. Netragard provides four tiers of service, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Ruby Red, making it an ideal fit for small startup firms to the world’s largest enterprise customers.
Specialty: Realistic Threat Penetration Testing focus designed to protect customers through the discovery of known and novel vulnerabilities at competitive price points. Guided by the philosophy “We Protect You From People Like Us.”, the company has earned a formidable reputation for uncompromising, high-quality, impact focused services at competitive prices. While many firms focus on low-cost and compliance, Netragard focuses on real security as the true objective, making compliance a natural byproduct.
Unique Strengths:
- Flexible, transparent, and value focused pricing and service delivery model.
- Extensive background in zero-day research and exploit development provides capabilities most firms simply do not have.
- Unique Path to Compromise documentation maps full attack chains, enabling clients to strengthen defenses post-breach simulation.
- Certificate of Security program, requiring 100% remediation within 60 days, demonstrates a commitment to measurable security improvement.
- Emphasis on long-term client relationships ensures customers have ongoing access to expert guidance well after the engagement ends.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Netragard and founder Adriel Desautels have been featured in Wired, Forbes, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, etc., and appears in authoritative best sellers like “This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends” and “Unauthorized Access”.
- Adriel was interviewed for the HBO/Viceland Cyberwar documentary, chronicle, and on Fox 25 Boston as a guest, among others.
- Adriel has spoken at major industry events such as Black Hat USA, InfoSec World, and the NAW Billion Dollar CIO Roundtable.
- Netragard regularly publishes deep dives and guides, like “Ransomware Protection Guide 2025” and “How to Conduct Tabletop Exercises: Dungeons & Dragons for Cybersecurity”.
Services: External Penetration Testing, Internal Penetration Testing, WiFi Penetration Testing, Web Application Penetration Testing, Mobile Application Security Testing, Social Engineering (Intermediate and Advanced), Physical Penetration Testing, Cloud Penetration Testing (AWS, GCP, M365, Azure, GWS), OSINT (basic or deep dive), Special Projects (leveraging Netragard’s unique zero-day and cyberwarfare expertise).
2. TrustedSec
Founded: 2012 | HQ: Cleveland, Ohio, USA | Reach: Global
Best for: Organizations seeking penetration testing from industry thought leaders, particularly those needing advanced social engineering, physical security testing, or Active Directory security expertise. Ideal for enterprises wanting testing from consultants who literally wrote the standards.
Specialty: Research-driven penetration testing with deep expertise in social engineering and physical security. Founded by David Kennedy (creator of the Social Engineer Toolkit), TrustedSec combines technical excellence with strategic thinking, delivering testing that reflects real-world attack methodologies while helping shape industry standards.
Unique Strengths:
- Founded by co-creator of the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES), ensuring methodology excellence
- Exceptional social engineering and physical penetration testing capabilities leveraging SET creator’s expertise
- Recently acquired Trimarc Security, adding world-class Active Directory security specialization
- CREST certified for penetration testing, demonstrating adherence to rigorous international standards
- Strong focus on knowledge transfer and client education during engagements
- Boutique model ensures senior consultants with proven track records on every engagement
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Founder David Kennedy has testified before Congress multiple times on cybersecurity matters
- Regular appearances on major news networks (Fox News, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg, BBC)
- Created industry-standard tools including Social Engineer Toolkit (SET), Artillery, and PenTesters Framework (PTF)
- Co-founded DerbyCon, one of the industry’s most respected security conferences (ran 2012-2019)
- Team members regularly present at Black Hat, DEF CON, RSA, and other major conferences
- Contributed to Mr. Robot TV show for technical accuracy
Services: External and internal network penetration testing, web application security testing, mobile application testing, wireless security assessments, social engineering (phishing, vishing, pretexting), physical penetration testing, red team operations, purple team exercises, Active Directory security assessments, cloud security testing (AWS, Azure, GCP), source code review, and incident response readiness testing.
3. Black Hills Information Security (BHIS)
Founded: 2008 | HQ: Spearfish, South Dakota, USA | Reach: Primarily U.S., serves global clients remotely
Best for: Organizations that value penetration testing as both a security validation exercise and a training opportunity. BHIS is particularly suited for companies that want actionable, high-impact results without the noise of low-priority vulnerabilities, and teams looking to grow their internal security skillsets alongside testing engagements.
Specialty: BHIS operates under the guiding philosophy, “Assume you’re already compromised.” This approach drives engagements that go beyond surface vulnerability checks to simulate realistic post-breach scenarios. Their testers work collaboratively with client teams during live engagements, explaining attack paths in real time so internal staff can reproduce, investigate, and defend against them long after the test concludes. While many firms provide static reports, BHIS ensures that testing is a dynamic knowledge transfer process.
Unique Strengths:
- Testing methodology prioritizes remediation effort-to-impact ratio, enabling rapid and cost-effective risk reduction.
- Strong integration of security education into every engagement — testers actively coach client teams during active exploitation phases.
- Long-standing dedication to the security community, producing widely used free tools, educational series, and games that reinforce incident response skills.
- A culture of openness and transparency, with a reputation for being highly approachable while delivering technically rigorous results.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Media & Community Presence: Widely recognized for creating the Backdoors & Breaches incident response card game, hosting the Talkin’ About [Infosec] News podcast, and delivering weekly webcasts that attract thousands of viewers from around the globe.
- Training & Standards: Founder John Strand is a veteran SANS instructor and contributor to the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES), influencing methodology best practices across the industry.
- Speaking Engagements: BHIS experts are frequent speakers at major conferences and corporate security summits, delivering talks known for their balance of technical depth and practical application.
Services: External and internal network penetration testing, web application penetration testing, mobile application penetration testing, wireless security assessments, red team operations, threat hunting with proprietary AC-Hunter™ technology, adversary emulation, and active SOC services.
4. CQURE
Founded: 2008 | HQ: Warsaw, Poland | Reach: Global (strong EMEA footprint)
Best for: Organizations with significant Microsoft/Windows/Active Directory exposure seeking deep, hands-on testing combined with expert knowledge transfer and tailored workshops.
Specialty: Microsoft centric penetration testing and defense. Led by Paula Januszkiewicz (Microsoft MVP & Regional Director), CQURE advances from blackbox to greybox to whitebox testing, pairing exploitation with education so internal teams can sustain improvements post engagement.
Unique Strengths:
- Worldclass Microsoft ecosystem expertise (AD, identity, Windows internals, hybrid cloud).
- Integrated training via CQURE Academy and custom labs that mirror your environment.
- Emphasis on realistic attack chains (lateral movement, credential abuse, misconfigurations) with actionable fixes.
- GDPR aware testing and reporting aligned to European regulatory expectations.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Paula keynotes major conferences (e.g., RSA, Black Hat, Microsoft Ignite, SecTor, GISEC, LEAP).
- Frequent publications and deep dive trainings on identity, AD hardening, and Microsoft security.
- Recognized for high-fidelity demos and practical defense guidance suitable for blue teams.
Services: Infrastructure and internal/external network penetration tests, web/mobile/API testing, Active Directory/identity security assessments, red/purple teaming, wireless testing, incident response and forensics, threat hunting, workshops/knowledge transfer, and remediation validation.
5. Coalfire
Founded: 2001 | HQ: Westminster, Colorado, USA | Reach: North America led with global delivery
Best for: U.S. federal contractors, SaaS/cloud providers, and heavily regulated industries that need offensive testing aligned to compliance programs (e.g., FedRAMP, PCI, HIPAA, SOC).
Specialty: Compliance aligned offensive security. Coalfire’s offensive services (Coalfire Labs) conduct manual penetration testing and red teaming tailored to cloud and federal requirements, helping organizations reduce risk while accelerating audit and authorization milestones.
Unique Strengths:
- Widely recognized FedRAMP 3PAO with extensive authorization experience for major cloud providers and SaaS vendors.
- Strong cloud security focus (AWS/Azure/GCP), including segmentation and privileged pathway testing.
- Integrated governance, risk, and compliance services for end-to-end “auditready” outcomes.
- Mature retesting and remediation validation workflows to close control gaps efficiently.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Regular federal and cloud security thought leadership (white papers, compliance briefings).
- Frequent speakers on FedRAMP, CMMC, and cloud authorization strategies.
- Track record of high-profile federal cloud assessments and advisory work.
Services: External/internal network and application penetration testing, cloud security and container/Kubernetes assessments, red teaming/adversary emulation, social engineering, segmentation testing, PCI HIPAA SOC2 readiness/security testing, FedRAMP pen testing and continuous monitoring support, and remediation verification.
6. Red Siege
Founded: 2017 | HQ: Longview, Texas, USA | Reach: U.S.–headquartered boutique serving global clients.
Best for: Security teams that want senior-led, manually executed penetration tests and red team engagements with clear, actionable remediation—especially in AD/Kerberos-heavy environments.
Specialty: Offensive security focused on real-world adversary tradecraft. Red Siege emphasizes careful scoping and manual exploitation; leadership is known for Kerberoasting and enterprise pentest methodology.
Unique Strengths:
- Founder created Kerberoasting; deep identity/Kerberos expertise carries through to client work.
- Consistent public education via SiegeCast webinars, blogs, and YouTube content.
- Practical scoping/process guidance to maximize test value.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Tim Medin (CEO/founder), creator of Kerberoasting; longtime instructor/author for SANS SEC560.
- Frequent community talks/podcasts on pentesting practice.
- Active publication of offensive how-tos and methodology.
Services: Web/mobile/API and thick-client penetration testing; internal/external network testing; red teaming/adversary emulation; cloud/AD assessments; social engineering.
7. Atredis Partners
Founded: 2013 | HQ: St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | Reach: Global
Best for: Organizations requiring deep technical security expertise across embedded systems, IoT devices, medical devices, automotive systems, and complex application stacks. Atredis Partners serves clients ranging from technology giants like Google and Microsoft to critical infrastructure providers and government agencies, making them ideal for those seeking research-driven security assessments beyond traditional penetration testing.
Specialty: Research-driven security consulting with unparalleled expertise in embedded security, hardware reverse engineering, and advanced vulnerability research. Guided by the philosophy of being “worker-owned” with “no outside capital,” the company focuses on delivering bespoke, high-quality security assessments tailored to each client’s unique threat profile. While many firms offer commoditized services, Atredis Partners emphasizes custom research and deep technical analysis, particularly in areas like firmware security, mobile platforms, Smart Grid, and industrial control systems.
Unique Strengths:
- 100% worker-owned and independent consultancy with no outside investment, ensuring complete alignment with client interests.
- First security research firm named to Qualcomm’s Product Security Hall of Fame and recipient of four DARPA research grants.
- Team members have authored five information security books including “The Android Hacker’s Handbook” and “The iOS Hacker’s Handbook.”
- Direct consultant-to-client model with no non-technical sales intermediaries, ensuring technical accuracy throughout engagements.
- Groundbreaking research on ChromeOS security for Google, declaring it “the most secure OS out of the box” in comprehensive analysis.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Team members have presented research over 50 times at BlackHat Briefings in Europe, Japan, and the United States.
- CEO Shawn Moyer is a 12-time BlackHat speaker and member of the BlackHat review board with over 25 years in information security.
- Public security research on products from Google, Microsoft, Lenovo, Motorola, Samsung, and HTC.
- Collaborated with CNCF to advance Kubernetes security and with The Linux Foundation on Core Infrastructure Initiative.
- Featured in The Washington Post, BusinessWeek, NPR, and The New York Times for security research discoveries.
Services: Embedded Security Testing (IoT, automotive, medical devices), Hardware Reverse Engineering, Mobile Application Security Assessment, Source Code Audit and Review, Smart Grid and SCADA Security, Advanced Penetration Testing, Red Team Operations, Attack Simulation, Binary Analysis, Protocol Analysis, Third-Party Product Security Testing, Risk Management and Advisory Services, Custom Security Research, and bespoke security assessments tailored to unique client requirements.
8. IO Active
Founded: 1998 | HQ: Seattle, Washington, USA | Reach: Global (offices in UK, Spain, Singapore, and Latin America)
Best for: Organizations with complex IoT/embedded systems, automotive technology, or critical infrastructure requiring deep hardware and firmware security expertise, as well as enterprises seeking research-grade penetration testing from recognized industry experts.
Specialty: Research-focused penetration testing with particular expertise in hardware, firmware, and embedded systems security. IOActive combines traditional network and application testing with specialized capabilities in reverse engineering, cryptographic analysis, and hardware exploitation that few firms can match.
Unique Strengths:
- World-renowned research team regularly discovering vulnerabilities in critical systems (automotive, medical devices, industrial control systems)
- Specialized hardware hacking lab with advanced equipment for chip-level analysis and side-channel attacks
- Strong automotive and transportation security practice with expertise in CAN bus, telematics, and connected vehicle testing
- Advisory services that go beyond testing to help design secure architectures for IoT and embedded systems
- Boutique model ensures senior-level consultants on every engagement
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- IOActive researchers have presented groundbreaking research at every major security conference for over two decades
- Published influential research on automotive hacking, satellite communications security, and medical device vulnerabilities
- Team members include recognized experts who have authored security tools and methodologies adopted industry-wide
- Regular advisors to government agencies and standards bodies on IoT and critical infrastructure security
Services: Network infrastructure penetration testing, web and mobile application security assessments, IoT and embedded device security testing, automotive and transportation security, hardware and firmware security analysis, smart grid and SCADA testing, red team operations, source code review, cryptographic implementation review, and security architecture consulting.
9. SpecterOps
Founded: 2017 | HQ: Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. | Reach: Global
Best for: Organizations seeking advanced adversary simulation and identity-focused security solutions, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies. SpecterOps provides comprehensive services ranging from Red Team operations and penetration testing to Purple Team assessments and program development, making them ideal for enterprises requiring sophisticated attack path management and adversary-focused security capabilities.
Specialty: Identity Attack Path Management and adversary-focused cybersecurity solutions designed to help organizations understand how threat actors maneuver against them. Guided by the philosophy “Built by Attackers. Trusted by Defenders,” the company specializes in replicating advanced adversary tradecraft to identify and remediate attack paths in Active Directory, Azure AD/Entra ID, and hybrid environments. While many firms focus on compliance-driven assessments, SpecterOps focuses on understanding and preventing real-world attack chains, particularly those targeting identity infrastructure.
Unique Strengths:
- Creators of BloodHound, the industry-leading open-source and enterprise Attack Path Management platform, now used by thousands of organizations worldwide.
- Team comprised of former NSA Red Team operators, military cybersecurity professionals, and creators of influential offensive security tools.
- Purple Team assessment methodology that uniquely evaluates security control effectiveness against variations of attack techniques.
- Extensive offensive tooling portfolio including co-creation of Empire, PowerView, Covenant, Mythic, Rubeus, and GhostPack.
- FedRAMP® High Authorization for BloodHound Enterprise and CREST accreditation for penetration testing services.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- CEO David McGuire is a former senior technical lead for the NSA Red Team with over 20 years of cybersecurity experience and University of Washington MBA.
- Kevin Mandia (Mandiant founder) serves as Chair of the Board of Directors, bringing decades of incident response and security leadership.
- Team members regularly present at major conferences including Black Hat USA, DEF CON, DerbyCon, BSides, Troopers, and BlueHat Israel.
- Extensive open-source contributions and research publications, including groundbreaking work on Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) attack paths.
- Home to creators and maintainers of industry-standard offensive security tools that have shaped modern red teaming practices.
Services: Red Team Operations, Purple Team Assessments, External Penetration Testing, Internal Penetration Testing, Web Application Penetration Testing, Mobile Application Security Testing, Cloud Penetration Testing (AWS, Azure, GCP, M365), Active Directory Security Assessments, Attack Path Assessments, Program Development (Red Team, Purple Team, Threat Hunting, Detection), Training Courses (Adversary Tactics series), Identity Attack Path Management via BloodHound Enterprise, Adversary Simulation, and custom security consulting engagements.
10. Bishop Fox
Founded: 2005 | HQ: Phoenix, Arizona, USA | Reach: Global
Best for: Enterprises that want continuous validation with expert manual verification, plus advanced red teaming and attack surface reduction led by seasoned offensive researchers.
Specialty: Offensive security with continuous testing. Bishop Fox augments traditional manual penetration testing with its continuous testing platform (Cosmos), combining automated discovery with human led exploitation to surface real, exploitable risk across evolving attack surfaces.
Unique Strengths:
- Continuous testing model (Cosmos) for ongoing exposure discovery and validation.
- Significant opensource and tooling contributions (including the Sliver C2 framework).
- Strong post exploitation focus to demonstrate tangible business risk and likely attacker impact.
- Integrations and workflows that tie findings to ticketing/SDLC processes for faster fixes.
Credibility & Thought Leadership:
- Recognized by industry analyst coverage for attack surface management/continuous testing leadership.
- Active Bishop Fox Labs publications (tools, exploit research, and technique writeups).
- Funding and international expansion supporting platform and research growth.
Services: Web/mobile/API and thick client penetration testing, external/internal network testing, cloud and container/Kubernetes assessments, red teaming/adversary emulation, product security reviews, attack surface management/continuous testing (Cosmos), social engineering, and retest/validation.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right penetration-testing company depends on your goals. Some organizations need a compliance checkbox; others want a deep, realistic threat penetration test. Define success first, then pick the firm whose methods and outcomes align with your expectations. If real security is the objective, insist on real scoping tied to workload and transparent pricing while treating count-based quotes (IPs, pages, APIs) as a red flag.
Take advantage our vendor-selection whitepaper to pressure-test the proposals you receive and avoid unwanted surprises down the road. Whether you choose Netragard or another provider, remember that realistic, human-driven testing delivers real protective benefit, and can be the difference between staying safe or suffering a damaging compromise.
FAQ
What makes a penetration testing vendor “top-rated”?
Leading vendors go beyond basic scans or compliance checklists by using realistic, manual testing methods and expert analysis tailored to each client’s risk profile and business needs. They focus on delivering context-rich findings and actionable remediation, not just automated results.
Is compliance-focused testing enough to protect my organization?
No, however, compliance is often a byproduct of quality testing. True security requires tests that reflect actual attacker methods and business threats, rather than solely meeting regulatory requirements.
What kind of ROI can I expect from penetration testing?
Effective penetration tests help prevent incidents that could cost millions in damages. The investment is comparatively small with ROI often exceeding 12,000% by averting successful breaches and supporting ongoing resilience improvements.
What should I look for in a penetration testing report?
Seek vendors that offer transparent, detailed reporting with actionable and customized recommendations. A good report will show attack chains, equip your teams with knowledge for ongoing defense, and foster a long-term security partnership.
