Advisory

Penetration Testing Sydney

CREST-accredited penetration testing for Sydney businesses and organisations, including local councils and NSW Government.

Penetration testing services Sydney

A penetration test shows how an attacker could break into your systems, and what they could reach once inside. Vectra is a CREST-accredited firm for penetration testing, operating since 2001. Every test is led by a CREST-registered Practitioner or Senior Consultant. We test web apps, APIs, networks, cloud, mobile apps, wireless and OT systems for NSW businesses, organisations, government agencies and councils.

Penetration Testing Sydney

Types of penetration testing for Sydney organisations

Pick a single test, or combine them where an attacker could move between layers, such as a web app and the API behind it.

Web application penetration testing

Customer portals, single-page apps and internal systems, tested by hand for broken sign-in, access control and business-logic flaws.

Web application pen testing

API penetration testing

REST, GraphQL and gRPC endpoints, including the partner APIs that banks and payment firms expose.

API pen testing

Cloud penetration testing

Cloud penetration testing on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, focused on identity paths and exposed services.

Cloud pen testing

Mobile app penetration testing

Mobile application penetration testing for iOS and Android, with runtime analysis and the backend API in one scope.

Mobile app pen testing

AI agent testing

Chatbots, assistants and agents, tested for prompt injection, data leakage and misuse of the workflows they can trigger.

Penetration testing services

Red team testing

When a pen test is not enough, a red team chases agreed goals across people, buildings, cloud and networks.

Red team services

Every pen test is scoped and quoted to your environment.

Tell us what you want tested and what is driving it, and we will agree the scope, the rules of engagement and the escalation contacts with you before sending a scoped quote.

Get a scoped quote

Penetration testing for NSW Government agencies and suppliers

NSW Government lists Vectra as an Advanced Supplier on the ICT Services Scheme, SCM0020. The scheme is a mandatory whole-of-government way to buy ICT goods and services. Its current term runs to 28 February 2029.

NSW agencies are expected to show that their cyber controls work, and their suppliers are often asked for the same proof. A penetration test gives an independent answer. Our reports are pre-mapped to the Essential Eight, and each finding can be linked to the relevant ISM control. If your agency reports against a state policy, tell us at scoping and we will confirm how the report fits.

Procurement panels and schemes

  • Our listing

    Advanced Supplier on SCM0020, listed under Vectra Corporation Limited.

  • Cyber security work

    Our NSW profile covers security advice, building and testing controls, managed security and the tools to support them.

  • Wider ICT categories

    It also covers IT consulting, cloud, infrastructure and networks, managed services, software and solution design and build.

  • Your own rules

    The scheme is a buying route. You still run your own value-for-money test and confirm our status on buy.nsw when you buy.

Testing for Sydney's financial services, fintech and payments sector

Sydney is home to many of Australia's banks, insurers, super funds and payment firms. Their testing has to stand up to APRA, the card schemes and SWIFT.

APRA

CPS 234 information security

Under CPS 234, the Board owns information security, and controls must keep pace with the threats you face. Our pen test reports are pre-mapped to CPS 234, ready for the Board Risk Committee.

APRA CPS 234
APRA

CPS 230 operational resilience

CPS 230 asks you to keep critical operations running through a disruption, including a cyber attack. We design scenario tests against your documented critical operations.

APRA CPS 230
Card payments

PCI DSS requirement 11.4

Vectra is a PCI QSA company. Our pen tests cover requirement 11.4, including segmentation checks, and we can add the quarterly ASV scans that requirement 11.3 calls for.

PCI DSS services
SWIFT

Testing the SWIFT environment

SWIFT lists Vectra in its Directory of Cyber Security Service Providers for Asia-Pacific. We run penetration tests and vulnerability scans of the systems in your SWIFT environment.

SWIFT CSP assessments
Fintech

Fast release cycles

Fintech teams ship often. Test new apps, major releases, new APIs and changes to sign-in before they go live, so a flaw is found before customers find it.

API penetration testing
Digital assets

Wallets and payment apps

Our finance work covers network, web and mobile testing, as well as CBDC and digital asset platforms, where a logic flaw can move real money.

Banking and finance

Network penetration testing for Sydney organisations

A network penetration test shows what an attacker can reach on your network, and how far they could get from there. For many Sydney organisations it is the first test on the list, because it covers the infrastructure every business exposes to the internet and to its own staff.

External network testing

An external test looks at your network from the internet. We map the services you expose, such as remote access, VPN concentrators, mail and web servers, and then try to break in the way a real attacker would. You see which weak points are real and which are only noise.

Internal network and Active Directory testing

An internal test starts from inside the network, in the position of a staff laptop or a compromised device. We test firewall and segmentation rules, Active Directory privilege-escalation chains and lateral movement. The question is simple: if one machine falls, how much of the business could an attacker reach from there?

When a network pen test makes sense

Test when you open new services to the internet, redesign the network or add remote access. For card environments, an internal test can also check the segmentation that keeps your PCI scope small. Read more on our network penetration testing page.

Pen testing live systems without disrupting the business

Banks, payment firms and software providers often need their live systems tested, not a copy. We plan for that from the first scoping call.

Safeguards on production

When the target is live production, we throttle request rates, agree limits on destructive actions in advance and keep a live bridge open to your team. If you would rather we tested staging, we first check that its set-up really matches production, so the results still hold for the live system.

Working around freezes and blackouts

Tell us your release calendar, end of financial year dates and reporting blackouts at scoping, and we will set the test window around them. During a code freeze, we can run assurance work in read-only mode.

What you receive

After testing you get a debrief, an executive report and a developer walkthrough, plus a retest window for every High-severity finding and above. Our penetration testing overview covers the six-step method in full.

How to choose a penetration testing company in Sydney

Sydney has many penetration testing providers. Apply these checks to every one of them, including Vectra.

  • Check the firm's CREST accreditation on the CREST Marketplace, not only a logo on its website.

  • Ask who will lead your test, and which CREST registration and certifications that person holds.

  • Ask whether High-severity findings are manually exploited and verified, or copied from automated scanner output.

  • Ask how the report is structured, from the executive summary to the remediation steps for developers.

  • Confirm that retesting of High-severity findings is included in the engagement.

  • If you are a NSW Government agency, confirm the supplier's SCM0020 status on buy.nsw before you engage them.

  • If you are APRA-regulated or process card payments, ask how findings map to CPS 234 or PCI DSS requirements.

  • Ask how live production systems are protected during testing, such as rate limits and an open line to your team.

Penetration testing across Australia

If your organisation spans several states, one engagement can cover them all. Each city page sets out its own buying routes and sectors.

Adelaide

For South Australian agencies on the eProjects and Cyber Security Services panels, and for defence and energy.

Pen testing Adelaide

Melbourne

For Victorian agencies on the eServices Register, and for insurers, health and logistics.

Pen testing Melbourne

Canberra

For federal agencies, with each finding linked to the relevant ISM control.

Pen testing Canberra

Brisbane

For Queensland organisations and Government buyers using a QITC contract.

Pen testing Brisbane

Sydney penetration testing FAQs

Is Vectra on the NSW Government ICT Services Scheme?

Yes. NSW Government lists Vectra Corporation Limited as an Advanced Supplier on the ICT Services Scheme, SCM0020. The scheme is a mandatory whole-of-government way to buy ICT goods and services, and its current term runs to 28 February 2029. Check our status on buy.nsw at the time you buy, as scheme terms can change.

Can a pen test support APRA CPS 234?

Yes. CPS 234 expects regulated entities to test their security controls and act on what the tests find, and our reports are pre-mapped to CPS 234, so findings, risk ratings and fixes come in a form your Board and auditors can use. Every High-severity finding and above also gets a retest window, so the fix is confirmed.

How does a penetration test help with CPS 230?

CPS 230 asks APRA-regulated entities to keep critical operations running through a disruption, and a cyber attack is one of the most likely. We design scenario tests against the critical operations you have documented. The results show whether an attacker could disrupt one of them, and which controls would need to change to stop that happening.

Can you do PCI DSS segmentation testing for Sydney merchants?

Yes. Vectra is a PCI QSA company, and our pen tests cover PCI DSS requirement 11.4, including segmentation testing. Segmentation testing checks that systems outside your cardholder data environment cannot reach it, and where segmentation holds, it can keep the rest of your network out of PCI assessment scope.

Can you test the systems in our SWIFT environment?

Yes. SWIFT lists Vectra in its Directory of Cyber Security Service Providers for Asia-Pacific. That listing is a sourcing route, not a SWIFT endorsement or certificate. We run penetration tests and vulnerability scans of the systems in your SWIFT environment, and the findings help show how well those systems are protected.

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