Financial Services Penetration Testing for FCA-Regulated Firms
Financial services firms, banks, payment institutions, asset managers, insurers, and fintechs, face the deepest cybersecurity scrutiny in the UK. We deliver penetration testing that supports FCA Operational Resilience (PS21/3), PRA SS1/21 and PCI DSS evidence, using the intelligence-led structure that threat-led testing programmes are built around. CREST-accredited engagements, with reports your internal audit and compliance teams can use directly.
- Unlimited retesting
- Unlimited pre-retesting
- No hidden fees
“I would highly recommend EJN Labs to any organisation seeking reliable, detailed, and well-managed penetration testing services, particularly for government or enterprise-level projects.”
“There wasn’t another company we could find that could deliver what we needed in the timeframe we needed. The client loved it, and we got instant ROI from the engagement.”
penetration testing accreditation is explicitly recognised by NCSC, FCA, and the UK Government Digital Marketplace: CREST. Auditors trust it because it’s rigorous and verifiable.
Self-certified pen testing reports won’t pass audit. CREST-accredited testing will.
Many cybersecurity firms claim to deliver “professional” penetration testing without any external accreditation. Their reports are self-certified. When ISO auditors, FCA-regulated firms’ compliance teams, or NHS DSPT assessors review the report, they ask: “Who validates the methodology? Who holds the testers accountable? Is this firm independently verified?”
CREST (the Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers) is the only UK accreditation body whose membership is explicitly recognised by NCSC, FCA, and the UK Government Digital Marketplace. CREST member firms undergo rigorous independent assessment of methodology, governance, technical capability, and individual tester competence.
Our active membership is verifiable directly on marketplace.crest.org/supplier/ejn-labs-ltd.
Who we test for. Banks and challenger banks, building societies, credit unions, wealth and asset managers, investment platforms, pension providers and lenders. The systems we see most: online banking, investment and trading platforms, wealth client portals, pension member portals, loan origination and mortgage broker portals.
FS-GRADE METHODOLOGY · ALL SERVICES
Financial Services Penetration Testing: Every Service Type
CREST methodology applied to every engagement. Choose the service type; we deliver to the same accreditation standard.
Web App Pen Testing
OWASP Top 10 + ASVS, manual exploitation of business-logic flaws, IDOR, SSRF, broken authentication. CREST-certified testers.
Mobile App Pen Testing
iOS + Android against OWASP MASVS. Frida runtime, SSL pinning bypass, biometric bypass, backend API. CREST-certified testers.
API Pen Testing
OWASP API Top 10 (BOLA, BFLA, BOPLA), REST + GraphQL + gRPC. Schema-aware coverage.
External Pen Testing
PTES + NIST SP 800-115. Public-IP attack surface, exposed services, subdomain takeover, weak SSL/TLS.
AWS Cloud Security
CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark v3.0. IAM, S3, EKS, Lambda, KMS. Manual exploitation chains.
Azure Cloud Security
CIS Microsoft Azure Foundations v3.0. Entra ID, RBAC, Key Vault, AKS, Storage.
GCP Cloud Security
CIS Google Cloud Platform Foundations v3.0. IAM impersonation, GKE, Cloud Storage, Secret Manager.
Red Teaming
MITRE ATT&CK-mapped adversary simulation. STAR-aligned + TIBER-UK methodology.
VAPT
Combined automated scanning + manual exploitation. Audit-grade compliance evidence.
Threat Intelligence
CREST CTI capabilities. Sector-specific threat actor profiling, dark-web monitoring.
Attack Surface Monitoring
Continuous external asset discovery, exposed services, leaked credentials.
Cyber Essentials Plus
IASME-accredited Cyber Essentials Certifying Body. Pre-audit gap analysis, full CE+ testing.
FOUR-PHASE METHODOLOGY
Financial Services Penetration Testing: From Scope to Attestation
Every CREST engagement follows the four-phase delivery model. Findings tagged to specific control IDs. Reports accepted by every UK auditor.
Scope & Threat Model
CREST-aligned scoping call. Threat model agreed with the customer. Rules of engagement signed. Fixed-price quote confirmed before work begins.
Manual Exploitation
CREST-certified testers run the engagement using manual exploitation. Automated scans support breadth; humans deliver depth.
Live Findings
Critical findings reported live during testing, not held back to the final report. Direct engineer access via the EJN portal.
Report & Retest
CREST-acceptable report format. Findings mapped to specific control IDs. Free retest until every finding is closed. No extra fee, no time limit. Letter of attestation provided.
CREDENTIALS
Verified Accreditations Auditors Accept
Every credential below is independently verifiable. UK procurement teams, FCA supervisors, ISO 27001 / SOC 2 auditors, and cyber insurance underwriters all recognise these standards.
GET YOUR QUOTE
Get a CREST Financial Services pen test quote in 24 hours
A fixed-price quote back in one business day, from a named CREST assessor. No sales pipeline, no chasing.
- CREST and IASME accredited. Testing your auditors and clients already recognise.
- Fast-track testing within 24 hours where required. Free retest of every fix included.
- Live findings via your client portal, not a four-week PDF.
- Fixed price from £3,500 for a single-role, single-app scope, agreed up front. Most engagements run £5,000 and up. No day-rate surprises.
Dan WilcocksonFounder, CelloriUnder NDA Further named references available on a scoping call.
- We reply within one business day with a fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
- You approve the scope and we book a start date, usually within 24 hours.
- Live findings land in your client portal as we test, with a free retest of every fix.
Get your fixed pen test quote in 24 hours
Quote request received
We will reply within one business day with your fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
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or book a 20-min scoping call first
We reply within one business day. Your data stays with us. No newsletter signup.
COMPLIANCE READY
Reports Accepted by FCA, PRA, NCSC and Cyber Insurers
CREST methodology is explicitly recognised by NCSC, FCA, ISO auditors, and UK Government. Reports submitted directly without translation.
FCA Cyber Resilience
CREST accreditation is widely recognised across FCA-regulated financial services as evidence of penetration testing rigour. Reports are written for direct submission to supervisors.
NCSC IT Health Check
CREST and NCSC CHECK are the two recognised UK government standards. CREST membership is verified independently.
PCI DSS
CREST-aligned testing addresses PCI DSS 4.0.1 Requirement 11.4.2 and Requirement 11.4.3 (internal and external penetration testing); Requirement 11.3 covers the quarterly vulnerability scans.
ISO 27001 + SOC 2
CREST-tested findings pre-mapped to ISO 27001:2022 Annex A 8.8 / Trust Services Criteria, so ISO and SOC 2 auditors can use them directly.
NHS DSPT
CREST testing accepted as evidence for the Data Security and Protection Toolkit Assertion 9 (asset 7) requirement.
Cyber Insurance
UK cyber-insurance underwriters increasingly require CREST-attested testing for renewal, particularly for premiums above £100k.
TRANSPARENT PRICING
Transparent Financial Services Penetration Testing Pricing
All CREST engagements include the same accreditation standard. Price varies by service type and scope complexity.
Depends on service + scope
External / web / API / mobile single-target engagement. CREST-certified delivery. Around 3 to 5 working days from kickoff to report.
Get a fixed quoteDepends on service + scope
Multi-target combined engagement (web + API + external + AD), or single complex target. Typically 7-10 days.
Get a fixed quoteDepends on service + scope
Full-stack engagement (multiple cloud accounts, hybrid AD, complex web + API + mobile). Typically 12-15+ days.
Get a fixed quoteSUB-SECTORS
Financial Services Sub-Sectors We Test
CREST methodology applied to your sector’s specific compliance and threat-model requirements.
Fintech
FCA-regulated firms, Open Banking, payment APIs, PCI scoping.
Fintech sector pageSaaS
Multi-tenant isolation, SSO/SAML/OIDC, customer-data perimeter, SOC 2 evidence.
SaaS sector pageHealthcare
NHS DSPT, NHS DTAC, EHR integration, telehealth, patient-data PII.
Healthcare sector pageInsurance
FCA / PRA Operational Resilience, claims data, broker integrations, cyber underwriting evidence.
Insurance sector pageLaw
Privileged-data confidentiality, partner-tier scrutiny, SRA Cyber Standard alignment.
Law firm sector pagePublic Sector
CCS / G-Cloud framework, NCSC-aligned, SC-cleared testers available.
Public sector pageWHY EJN LABS
What You Get From Financial Services Penetration Testing
Six concrete differentiators competitors don’t all match.
CREST-Certified Testers, Verifiable
Every test by a CREST-certified pen tester (CRT, CCT APP, CCT INF where applicable). Verify our company status at crest-approved.org.
24-Hour Startup, Where Required
From signed scope to active testing in a single business day for incident response, audit deadlines, or regulator-driven timelines.
Live Findings, Not 4-Week PDFs
Critical issues reported during testing through your client portal. Your team remediates while testing continues.
Audit-Ready Reports
Executive summary plus full technical report with CVSS scores and explicit framework mappings (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, FCA SYSC).
Free Retests, Standard
Verify remediation of every finding before close-out. Letter of attestation for audit submission included. Most competitors charge £1,500-£3,000 per retest.
UK-Based CREST Testers
Every engagement performed by vetted, UK-based CREST-certified testers, matched to your needs, security clearance, and compliance scope.
FAQ
Frequently Asked
How does this map to FCA Operational Resilience (PS21/3)?
PS21/3 requires regulated firms to identify their Important Business Services, set Impact Tolerances, and demonstrate they can stay within them through severe-but-plausible disruption. Penetration testing is the evidence step: it validates whether the controls protecting those Important Business Services actually hold up under realistic attack scenarios. We scope engagements explicitly around your IBS mapping, deliver findings tagged to the operational-resilience controls they affect, and write executive summaries the operational resilience committee can take to the board.
How does penetration testing intersect with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018?
Article 32 UK GDPR requires “regular testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness” of security measures. The ICO has repeatedly cited penetration testing as the canonical evidence of this for personal-data systems. We map every finding to the personal data it could expose, the lawful basis for processing affected, and the breach-notification threshold under Article 33. Reports are structured so your DPO can cite them in the Article 30 record of processing without rewriting anything.
What is CREST penetration testing?
CREST is the UK’s leading penetration testing accreditation. CREST member firms undergo independent assessment of methodology, governance, technical capability, and individual tester competence, which is why buyers, auditors and procurement teams commonly ask for it.
How do I verify your CREST membership?
Our CREST membership is verifiable directly at marketplace.crest.org/supplier/ejn-labs-ltd. Auditors typically check this URL during compliance reviews.
How does CREST differ from CHECK?
CHECK is the NCSC scheme for testing UK government systems, and central government buyers can ask for a CHECK provider. CREST is an industry accreditation used across the wider private and public sector. Your buyer or contracting authority tells you which one a contract needs.
Is CREST recognised internationally?
CREST has growing international recognition. CREST is the dominant standard in UK, Australia, Singapore, and the Middle East. In the US, customers more often request OSCP / OSCE individual certifications. Our team holds both: CREST firm membership and CREST/OSCP/OSCE individual certifications.
How much does financial services penetration testing cost?
Small engagements £3,500–£8,000. Mid-market combined engagements (most commonly commissioned) £8,000-£18,000. Enterprise full-stack engagements £18,000+. UK day rates for CREST-certified testers typically run £1,100 to £1,400 per day.
What service types do you offer for FS firms?
All service types: web app, mobile, API, external infrastructure, internal infrastructure, AWS / Azure / GCP cloud, red teaming, threat intelligence, attack surface monitoring, VAPT, code review, social engineering. Same CREST accreditation standard across every service.
Will CREST testing satisfy our PCI DSS Requirement 11.4?
Yes. CREST-aligned testing methodology addresses PCI DSS 4.0.1 Requirement 11.4.2 and Requirement 11.4.3 (internal and external penetration testing). Our PCI DSS engagements follow the Requirement 11.4.1 methodology expectations.
Will CREST testing satisfy our ISO 27001 audit?
Yes. CREST-aligned testing supports ISO 27001:2022 Annex A 8.8 (management of technical vulnerabilities), the control that replaced A.12.6.1 in the 2013 edition. Our reports include a control-mapping summary that ISO auditors can use as evidence.
Will CREST testing reduce our cyber insurance premium?
We cannot promise a premium change. Requirements vary by insurer and policy: some cyber insurance proposal forms ask whether you conduct penetration tests and remediate critical findings. We document findings and remediation against the questions your broker or insurer asks.
How long does financial services penetration testing take?
Single-target engagements typically 3-5 working days. Multi-target combined engagements 7-10 days. Enterprise full-stack 12-15+ days. Test duration is determined during scoping based on scope complexity.
Are your testers all CREST-certified?
Yes. Every consultant working on CREST engagements holds at minimum CREST CRT (Registered Tester) qualifications. The team also holds CREST CCT (Certified Tester) across specialisms: App, Inf, Cloud, Red Team. Many also hold OSCP, OSCE, OSWE for additional rigour.
Which financial services organisations do you test for?
Banks and challenger banks, building societies, credit unions, wealth and asset managers, investment platforms, pension providers and lenders, alongside fintech and insurance firms.
What do you test on banking, wealth and pension platforms?
Movement of funds and transaction signing, maker/checker approval, account ownership, adviser versus customer access, beneficiary and payee changes, document integrity and fraud controls.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes. Standard NDA before any technical detail is shared. We operate under a project-specific master agreement that includes data handling, deliverable IP, and breach notification clauses. Custom MSAs and AUP terms are accepted for enterprise and public-sector clients.
What’s in the report?
Executive summary (board-ready), technical report with CVSS 3.1 scores, reproduction steps, screenshots, specific remediation guidance, and a 60-minute walkthrough call. Letter of attestation issued after free retest.
How quickly can you start?
From signed scope to active testing in 24 hours where required. Standard pipeline is 3-5 business days from initial scoping call to test start.
20+ CREST-accredited testing services in one place
Web, mobile, API, cloud, AI, infrastructure, red team. Pick the test that fits your environment.
Get a fixed Financial Services pen test quote in 24 hours
A CREST-certified consultant who specialises in financial services will contact you within one business day with a fixed price, a realistic timeline, and the named consultant. No sales pipeline.
