Penetration testing helps businesses reveal critical vulnerabilities by simulating a cyberattack in order to identify and patch any potential security weaknesses. If you are not performing penetration tests in a structured manner, you might find that they easily become plagued by miscommunication, and you might even struggle with issues such as overlooked security vulnerabilities, low-value deliverables, and even time-consuming delays.
According to Sage, “48% of SMBs have experienced a cyber security incident in the past year,” [1] leading many companies to outsource penetration testing. If you are looking to leverage the skills and knowledge of security experts while also making the tests more realistic since no insiders are participating directly, looking at third-party vendors to perform the tests is a great option as they provide their own equipment while simulating actual scenarios from the real world.
This guide is designed for IT leaders, security professionals, and compliance stakeholders who want to ensure their outsourced penetration tests are both effective and efficient. You’ll learn why you shouldn’t skip on penetration testing, and will also know how to get the most out of outside expertise while limiting potential risks to your business operations.
TL;DR: Why Outsource Penetration Testing in 2025
Outsourcing penetration testing helps SaaS, tech and other businesses identify vulnerabilities using external ethical hackers. It improves audit readiness (SOC 2, PCI DSS), reduces costs, and gives access to specialized tools and skills. Companies save time, avoid in-house hiring, and receive more objective results. Use this guide to compare vendors, understand pricing, and follow a 7-step outsourcing process.
What Is Outsourced Penetration Testing?
Outsourcing penetration testing is the process of hiring external experts to hack your systems—before real attackers do. Think of it as a controlled stress test for your security, where the outsourced team will “break into” the designated systems that you wish to test in order to better prepare against actual attacks from hackers, as cyberattacks have more than tripled in frequency over the past decade – according to Statista.
Companies typically choose between doing penetration tests in-house or outsourcing. In short, this means you should be delegating the testing to the IT department of the company or hiring outside security experts to perform the tests on behalf of the company.
Your goal should be to find weak spots, backdoors, and other vulnerabilities that might pose a security risk for the company engaging in the penetration test. These issues could potentially pose serious issues if not addressed in a timely manner, so outsourcing this work can help shed light on what actions need to be taken.
Practice has shown that outside experts tend to find more vulnerabilities, as they bring a fresh perspective while also being experienced with a wider range of systems compared to the specialized IT department that might be biased or too used to their own software.
Key Benefits of Outsourcing Penetration Testing
When you outsource penetration testing to external providers, you will often benefit from a number of key elements, as these partnerships often result in strategic benefits as well as a positive impact on the business itself. We have listed a few of the primary benefits below that are among the top reasons why companies choose to outsource.
Stay Audit-Ready Without the Headache
Compliance can be a major concern for businesses in heavily regulated industries. When you run professional-level penetration tests, you are better able to streamline and maintain the necessary compliance levels while also delivering reports tailored to auditor requirements, such as SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, GDPR and more.
Save Money Without Sacrificing Security
By hiring outside experts to perform the tests, you can also avoid investing in expensive software and hardware while at the same time eliminating the need for recruiting, hiring, and training highly specialized employees for internal tests. Not only that, but “this model offers budget predictability with a predetermined price,” [3] making it easier to anticipate future costs and align your budget and operations accordingly.
Access to Specialized Expertise and Tools
Outsourcing the penetration tests also makes it possible for you to perform more extensive and specialized tests compared to internal testing. Providers typically employ experts with OSCP, CISSP, CEH, and other certifications that use the latest and most advanced technologies and methods in order to discover any vulnerabilities.
This is backed up by data from Robert Walters, a large recruit platform with insight into how companies are hiring; as Phill Brown, Global Head of Market Intelligence, states: “Retailers have heavily invested in recent years to hire professionals who can assess their system security and identify vulnerabilities. Penetration testing and ethical hacking are among the most sought-after skills today.” [4].
We can summarize the key benefits of outsourcing penetration testing as follows:
- Audit-Ready Compliance: Helps meet SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and GDPR requirements.
- Cost Efficiency: No need for in-house hires or expensive tools. Pay only when needed.
- Specialized Expertise: Access to certified professionals (OSCP, CISSP, CEH) with real-world experience.
- Objectivity: External testers provide unbiased results and often find more vulnerabilities.
- Scalability: Vendors can scale tests up or down as needed—ideal for growing SaaS companies.
In-house vs Outsourced: What's Best for Your Business?
There are quite a few things to consider when choosing whether to opt for in-house personnel or outsourcing the penetration tests. Not sure whether to keep testing in-house or outsource? Here’s how the two options stack up in a neat overview:
Category | In-House Penetration Testing | Outsourced Penetration Testing |
Expertise & Capabilities | May be limited by team size, training, and exposure to real-world threats. | Access to specialized experts with broad experience across industries and technologies. |
Cost Structure | Higher upfront investment (salaries, training, tools), but lower marginal costs over time. | Pay-per-project or retainer-based—more cost-effective for occasional or complex tests. |
Tool Access & Methodologies | May be restricted to the tools the company can afford or support. | Typically use a wide range of commercial and proprietary tools, often more up-to-date methodologies. |
Operational Control & Flexibility | Full control over scheduling, scoping, and integration with internal teams. | Less day-to-day control; requires clear communication and planning to align with business needs. |
Bias & Objectivity | Potential for internal blind spots or pressure to “downplay” findings. | Greater objectivity—provides an unbiased, outsider’s perspective on real security posture. |
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“The most common reason organizations don’t have in-house pen testing is a lack of need for a full-time pen tester/team (55%)” [5]. So if you are operating one of these companies, adopting a hybrid approach might be the way forward.
With a hybrid solution, the outsourced team handles the comprehensive penetration tests themselves, including any assessments required by compliance bodies such as PCI-DSS or ISO 27001, while the in-house team handles the routine tests, ongoing security hardening, and similar tasks while also being in charge of implementing any changes and post-test remediation efforts necessary in order to patch vulnerabilities found by the outsourced team.
This combination provides continuous coverage while being cost-effective at the same time. Furthermore, you are better able to retain knowledge through the in-house teams while getting a fresh perspective from the outsourced team, all without sacrificing compliance and assurance processes.
Selection Criteria: How to Choose the Right Partner
Picking the right partner is critical—you need a team that’s both skilled and reliable. Below, we have listed a set of considerations that can be used as a rough guide in order to help identify potential vendors.
- Vendor experience and track record: This could include the industries they’ve worked in, case studies and testimonials/client references, and how long the company has been around.
- Certifications and testing standards: Which certifications should a penetration testing company have, and which testing standards should they adhere to?
- Scope & specialization: What are your specific requirements (what kind of testing do you need?), and does the company cover them? Can the vendor customize their offer, or do they only provide a cookie-cutter approach?
- Reporting: What do the reports include, how easy are they to understand, and does the vendor offer a debrief and strategy session as part of the reporting?
- Compliance alignment: Does the vendor help you satisfy the compliance frameworks you require?
- Pricing transparency: What pricing models are offered?
- Post-engagement support: What kind of post-testing support should businesses look for? Is remediation offered? Retesting?
How to Outsource Your Penetration Testing Step-by-Step
While it is important that you find a suitable external partner for penetration testing, it is only part of the overall process of ensuring a successful outcome. There are a number of steps that you can take in order to better prepare, manage, and act on an outsourced penetration test before it takes place.
Step 1: Define Your Objectives and Scope
First, define your objectives and scope. That means determining what to test and why. A clearly defined scope keeps your testers concentrating on the assets most important to your business, and it stops effort from being wasted on irrelevant targets.
Include the most critical systems within your penetration testing scope while specifically excluding any off-limits items. Among key considerations are the particular assets to be tested, so it’s often best to begin by determining what must be tested, such as mission-critical web apps, APIs, cloud infrastructure, corporate networks, and more.
Step 2: Who Should Be on Your Internal Team?
Outsourcing doesn’t equate to being able to remain hands-off. Create a small team within your organization to organize and manage the test. Typically, a project owner would be designated as a single point of contact responsible for coordinating the pen test. Also, a technical support function can be added, whereby we identify subject-matter experts who can be called upon if questions are asked by testers or access is required.
Step 3: Create a Vendor Shortlist for Evaluating Candidates
Having your objectives in mind and your team ready, it’s now time to connect with the correct outside provider by using the advice given in the section above and using that to create a shortlist of names. Next, evaluate each candidate on the shortlist according to your specific requirements in order to find the best options.
The market contains various penetration testing companies that differ in their capabilities – you need to select a dependable testing organization that has extensive experience and fits your requirements. You should look for penetration testing firms that employ professionals holding Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) and Offensive Security Certified Expert (OSCE) certifications.
Step 4: Choose the Right Type of Penetration Test
There are three basic types of penetration tests that companies can purchase, with advantages and disadvantages for each, so it is important to understand the differences. Most vendors will provide Black Box, Gray Box, or White Box methods, which indicate how much the testers know ahead of time. Selecting the appropriate category is key to achieving a useful result, depending on why you’re doing the test. Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison:
Approach | Tester Knowledge | Pros & Cons | Best Use |
Black Box | No prior knowledge | Simulates a real-world outsider attack with no insider information. However, with limited time, testers might spend most of it just discovering basic info, so they often find fewer deep issues. | Use this method when you want to see what an external hacker with zero access could find. Often used in bug bounty programs or initial assessments. |
Gray Box | Partial knowledge or access | More efficient than black box – testers can focus on deeper vulnerabilities sooner. Still gives an element of outsider perspective while leveraging some inside knowledge for breadth. | Good for balancing realism and depth. Ideal if you want a thorough test within a fixed timeframe without handing over full source code. |
White Box | Full knowledge and access | Most comprehensive. Testers can uncover complex, deeply buried issues since they have all the information upfront. Requires a high level of trust with the vendor, given the sensitive data shared. | Best for critical systems where you need maximum assurance. Yields the most complete results for your investment. |
Step 5: Establish Clear Communication Channels and Protocols
It’s important to have clear vendor communication to avoid surprises. Many vendors operating with companies in regulated industries may want to communicate with them regarding legal agreements or even provide NDAs for the outsourced team to ensure confidentiality, guard sensitive data, and stay compliant with regulations.
Also, discuss what access is required for the outsourced team in order to whitelist any networks, devices, and IP addresses and schedule test windows to successfully prepare for the test ahead of time. This is also the time for discussing how feedback is provided. Will the vendor use a real-time dashboard or deliver a report at the end?
Most current vendors, including Cybri.com, utilize secure web portals or third-party software for tracking vulnerabilities once they’re found. This means your team can start learning about and resolving problems immediately, not at the last minute, and thus begin working on solutions much sooner.
Step 6: Manage the Testing Process
Once you have initiated the test, your responsibility is to keep your side of the house operating smoothly while it’s underway. Some tips for doing this include testing during low-traffic periods or scheduled maintenance windows where possible. This helps keep any resulting slowdowns or alarms to a bare minimum. You don’t want to allow testers to dig into a mission-critical transaction in the midst of a peak business hour stream.
Step 7: Understand Frequency and Ongoing Needs
Penetration testing isn’t a one-off solution. Your IT environment and cyber threats are continually changing, so you need to redo tests regularly and at strategic points of change. Every business will be slightly different in terms of requirements, but most opt to use a full-scope pen test as a once-a-year health check for their cyber security. “1 in 3 companies [cite] money as their reason for not conducting the tests more frequently” [6].
CYBRI: Your Premier Outsourced Penetration Testing Partner
You need a pen testing partner who delivers real results—not just a stack of confusing reports and technical jargon that sounds good but does not provide any actionable advice. At Cybri.com, we deliver certified expertise, compliance-ready reports, and custom testing for the unique risks and demands of each individual business we work with.
What sets us apart is our flexible, client-first approach and years of experience across a wide variety of businesses and systems, ensuring compliance and assurance in a number of fields and industries. Want to learn more? Request a free consultation or see a sample report today!
References:
- Sage. (2023). SMBs struggle to keep pace with cyber threats [Press release].
- Statista. (n.d.). Global cybercrime outlook.
- TechMagic. (n.d.). Penetration testing cost guide.
- Brown, P. (2023). Demand for cybersecurity professionals surges with AI threat. MSN.
- CoreSecurity. (2024). 2024 penetration testing survey report.
- Biz Tech Magazine (2023). Why Small Businesses Need Penetration Tests
Frequently Asked Questions
Most companies test annually or after major changes to infrastructure. Some industries may require more frequent tests for compliance.
Yes, when working with a vetted vendor. Look for signed NDAs, certifications (OSCP, CEH), and clear reporting protocols.
Good vendors test during low-traffic windows and simulate attacks non-destructively. Proper planning minimizes business disruption.
