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Document information
ByNational Cyber Security Centreivory_birch_aa120e

How to get the most from penetration testing

Adapted edition

Security testing
Document type
Reference Guide
Format
DOCX
Pages
6
Language
English
Version
1.0
Updated
2026-09-16
Category
Information security
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0
Description

How to get the most from penetration testing for organisational planning, review and training. NCSC guidance is advisory and should be applied to the organisation's own risks and obligations.

Contents
  • Introduction
  • What is penetration testing?
  • Pen-testing: the ideal
  • What should a penetration test tell you?
  • What sort of system should be tested?
  • Using penetration testing effectively
  • Types of testing
  • Note
  • Your testing regime
  • A model penetration test engagement
  • Initial engagement of the external team
  • Staying in contact
  • Taking care
  • Changing scope
  • Source links
Source and licence
Penetration testing

National Cyber Security Centre

Original source OGL-UK-3.0

AttributionNational Cyber Security Centre, “Penetration testing” (8 August 2017), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

ChangesAdapted 16 September 2026: converted the official HTML article into neutral text-only DOCX and PDF editions. Preserved article headings, paragraphs, lists and plain-text source-link destinations; normalized web whitespace and typographic punctuation; omitted site navigation, topic and download cards, images, logos, scripts, styles and page furniture.

Version history
  • v1.016/09/2026
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