Penetration Testing & VAPT
A penetration test is a controlled, authorized simulation of a real cyberattack against your systems, networks, applications, or people. It answers the question regulators and boards are increasingly asking: not "do we have security controls?" but "do those controls actually stop an attacker?"
CISO Consulting conducts intelligence-led penetration testing aligned to SAMA's Financial Entities Ethical Red Teaming (FERT) guidelines, NCA ECC control validation requirements, and international standards including PTES, OWASP, and TIBER-EU.
The Regulatory Requirement
SAMA's Cyber Security Framework explicitly requires regular penetration testing for regulated financial institutions. NCA ECC-2:2024 mandates vulnerability assessments and security testing as part of the Cybersecurity Defense domain. For organizations pursuing ISO 27001, penetration testing is a standard component of the technical controls review. Regulators are now asking to see test results — not just confirmation that testing was done.
Our Penetration Testing Services
Network Penetration Testing
External and internal network assessments targeting your perimeter defenses, internal segmentation, Active Directory environment, lateral movement paths, and privilege escalation opportunities. We test what an attacker would target once inside your network — not just your internet-facing edge.
Web Application Penetration Testing
Comprehensive testing of your web applications against the OWASP Top 10 and beyond — including authentication bypass, injection vulnerabilities, broken access control, API security, business logic flaws, and session management weaknesses. Covers both customer-facing and internal applications.
API Security Testing
As Saudi organizations accelerate API-driven digital transformation, API attack surface has become the primary entry point for breaches. We test your REST, SOAP, and GraphQL APIs for authentication weaknesses, authorization flaws, data exposure, and rate limiting gaps aligned to the OWASP API Top 10.
Mobile Application Testing
iOS and Android application security assessments covering client-side data storage, network communication security, authentication mechanisms, binary protections, and API interactions. Aligned to OWASP MASVS and MSTG.
Social Engineering & Phishing Simulation
Controlled phishing campaigns and social engineering scenarios that test your employees' security awareness, your email security controls, and your incident response capability. Results feed directly into your Security Awareness training program with targeted remediation for at-risk departments.
Red Team Operations
A full adversary simulation engagement targeting specific business objectives — accessing financial systems, exfiltrating sensitive data, or compromising executive accounts — using the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of real threat actors active in the Saudi market. Aligned to SAMA's FERT guidelines.
Cloud Security Assessment
Security configuration reviews and penetration testing of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud environments — covering identity and access management, storage misconfigurations, network security, logging and monitoring gaps, and container security. Aligned to NCA ECC-2:2024 Cloud Computing Controls.
Our Testing Methodology
- Reconnaissance: Passive and active intelligence gathering on your attack surface
- Vulnerability identification: Automated scanning combined with manual testing
- Exploitation: Controlled exploitation of confirmed vulnerabilities to demonstrate real-world impact
- Post-exploitation: Privilege escalation, lateral movement, and data access simulation
- Reporting: Executive findings with business impact, technical report with exploitation evidence, and remediation guidance with severity ratings
- Retest: Verification of remediated findings included in every engagement
What You Receive
- Executive summary with business risk context
- Technical report with full exploitation evidence and screenshots
- CVSS-scored finding register with remediation priority
- Step-by-step remediation guidance per finding
- Retest report confirming all critical findings are resolved
- Compliance mapping to SAMA CSF, NCA ECC, ISO 27001, or PCI DSS as required