Threat-led scenario design
Translate business-critical assets and relevant threat intelligence into an objective, plausible attack paths and measurable success conditions.
Technical overview · Adversary
Translate realistic attacker objectives into measurable defensive improvement.
A technical view of threat-led testingi, purple teamingi, red teamingi, TIBER-aligned exercises, governance, evidence and detection improvement.
System flow
From authorised input to usable evidence.
This sequence shows how the principal technical activities connect. It is a capability flow, not a promise that every engagement uses every stage.
- 01
Set the objective
Define the protected outcome, target condition and evidence required to answer the resilience question.
- 02
Build the threat model
Select relevant actors, behaviours, attack pathsi and intelligence assumptions.
- 03
Govern the exercise
Agree rules, exclusions, control-cell roles, escalation paths and stop conditionsi.
- 04
Execute and observe
Run permitted activity while capturing attacker decisions, control interaction and defensive response.
- 05
Improve and replay
Turn evidence into owned improvements and repeat priority techniques to measure change.
Module specifications
What the technical capability covers.
The modules below retain the operational detail a technical evaluator needs when deciding whether the service fits their environment.
Initial-access simulation
Exercise explicitly authorised external, identity, phishing, social-engineering or other initial-access routes appropriate to the engagement.
Cloud and identity attack paths
Assess permitted routes through identity, privilege, cloud control planes, exposed services and trust relationships.
Lateral movement and objectives
Safely explore authorised movement, privilege escalationi and access to the agreed target condition without exceeding the rules of engagementi.
Detection and response validation
Compare executed techniques with telemetry, alerting, analyst decisions, containment actions and evidence retained by defenders.
Control-cell governance
Maintain the appropriate white-team or control-team structure, communications, safety oversight and decision record throughout the exercise.
Coverage, logic and outputs
The specification behind the workflow.
These details make the coverage and operating assumptions easier to evaluate. Items identified in the verification notice remain subject to sign-off before launch.
Exercise selection
- Threat-led penetration test for defined actor-informed technical scope
- Purple team exercise for collaborative detection improvement
- Red team operation for covert objective-led pressure
- TIBERi-aligned exercise where regulated governance is required
- Replay activity to verify priority defensive improvements
Rules and evidence
- Signed authorisation and named accountable stakeholders
- Permitted targets, identities, techniques and operating windows
- Explicit exclusions, safety controls and stop conditions
- Secure evidence capture and sensitive-data handling
- Incident escalation path for unexpected operational impact
Measured outputs
- Objective and attack-path narrative
- Technique coverage mapped to observed controls
- Detection, investigation and response timeline
- Prevention, detection and response improvement backlog
- Executive briefing plus technical replay plan
One platform
Pentesys Portal — One Platform
The Pentesys Portal enables you to review and select the scope, objectives, attack vectors, assets and rules of engagement for a red-team or purple-team simulation exercise—so you are in absolute control of the exercise and the environments we target.
Boundaries and assumptions
Confirm the detail before work begins.
Technical coverage is shaped by the agreed scope, customer environment, service selection and authorised operating model.
See prices →- The selected exercise model determines independence, collaboration, governance and operational pressure.
- Permitted activity, sensitive systems and stop conditions are agreed before execution.
- Regulated or framework-aligned exercises require additional governance and stakeholder confirmation.
Review the scope
Apply the technical model to your environment.
A relevant Pentesys specialist will review this overview, answer questions about boundaries, evidence and workflow, and explain the smallest proportionate next step.
Review this scope with a specialist Please do not submit credentials, secrets or sensitive evidence through the enquiry form.
Technical language, translated
Need a definition before going deeper?
The Pentesys glossary explains the security, testing and assurance terms used throughout this overview in plain English.
Browse the glossary →Trusted experience
Supporting recognised organisations.
Pentesys has continuously performed admirably during our collaboration, giving us faith in their knowledge. They delivered work that above our expectations by approaching each project with a deep understanding of our specifications. Their team demonstrated a remarkable degree of proficiency by effectively pinpointing weaknesses and offering practical suggestions to reduce possible hazards.
Unlike previous pentests that produced generic outputs, this engagement gave us clear, prioritised actions with real-world attack scenarios. The platform visibility into assets, vulnerabilities and remediation progress has helped us mature our security posture significantly. The team were professional, responsive, and genuinely cared about improving our security rather than just ticking a box.
The red team and external attack surface management work highlighted blind spots we didn't know existed. What stood out was the strategic guidance alongside the technical delivery – helping us shape a longer-term security roadmap rather than a one-off engagement. This felt like a partnership, not just a transactional assessment.
Pentesys has continuously produced excellent work. Their group demonstrated extraordinary technical proficiency by spotting crucial flaws and offering clever fixes that greatly strengthened our security stance. Their meticulous approach and attention to detail ensured that every facet of the project was covered in full.
We engaged Pentesys and the team for a complex penetration test and adversary simulation. The quality of the technical findings, realism of the attack paths, and clarity of reporting were outstanding. The recommendations were practical and mapped clearly to business risk, which made board-level conversations much easier. We've since built Pentesys into our ongoing security assurance programme.
ACCREDITED TO THE HIGHEST INDUSTRY STANDARDS
CREST member company
Pentesys has met CREST requirements for penetration testing in EMEA, demonstrating independently assessed technical and operational security-testing standards.
Cyber Essentials certified
Pentesys is Cyber Essentials certified across the whole organisation, showing that essential controls are in place to protect against common cyber threats.
CREST AI Charter signatory
A visible commitment to responsible, transparent and trustworthy use of AI within cyber security services.