The simple truth is that to get a complete understanding of your risk posture, your security testing needs to include what information a threat actor can learn about your organisation.
With the explosion of publicly available information online, from employee details to company infrastructure, attackers are no longer limited to technical exploits to breach your defences. Access to this data, combined with AI-powered tools that help weaponise it, can give attackers a foothold into your organisation.
As a result, organisations face increasing exposure to sophisticated modern threats such as advanced social engineering, AI-driven attacks, and targeted disinformation campaigns.
While traditional penetration testing effectively evaluates technical security controls and vulnerabilities, it focuses on a broad range of components within a defined scope. This method prioritises volume over depth, which may not capture how a real attacker would approach your organisation. Upfront intelligence gathering reveals what information attackers can actually access about your individual organisation, but this isn’t yet standard in traditional penetration testing, which could leave gaps in your security assessment.
Most standard penetration tests do include some basic form of OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) gathering — scanning for exposed assets, public records, credential leaks, or domain information. But that information isn’t typically shared as part of the reporting process, especially if it didn’t directly link to an exploit. That’s a missed opportunity to truly understand your security position.
It leaves a gap between what’s visible to attackers and what’s visible to defenders, and that gap is where breaches could happen.
Intelligence-led penetration testing bridges the gap in technical testing by starting with what attackers can actually uncover and learn about your organisation. Our process starts with a Digital Risk Assessment where we conduct targeted open-source intelligence (OSINT) gathering to identify the information threat actors could find and exploit.
This discovery phase isn’t just about collecting data — it’s about uncovering insight. Our Digital Risk Assessments provide a clear picture of your public-facing digital footprint, which is exactly where a motivated threat actor would start. Crucially, these findings are shared with you as part of the reporting process, even if they aren’t tied to an immediate vulnerability, which will help you to understand what is visible- and exploitable- to potential attackers.
The intelligence from phase one directly feeds into phase two of our process which is the penetration test itself. Here, our team uses the findings from the OSINT phase to test your cyber defences with a more realistic threat model. When a vulnerability is discovered and exploited, we share with you not only how it was done, but what intelligence contributed to that discovery — for a clear and comprehensive insight into both your information exposure and real-world risk. By understanding these interconnected risks in context, your organisation will be better equipped to defend against these threats.
Intelligence-led penetration testing goes beyond simply identifying vulnerabilities. By leveraging the same information, techniques and entry points a real adversary might use, it provides a deeper, more accurate insight into your risk exposure so you can strengthen your security posture with confidence.
Read more about our intelligence-led penetration testing services, or get in touch to find out how we can help strengthen your security.
As a business leader, security leader, or IT decision-maker, you’re already spinning multiple plates: managing risk, meeting regulatory requirements, and making sure your systems are secure without slowing the pace of business.
A proactive cyber security strategy will minimise risk and help you achieve a mature security posture.
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape of 2025, every organisation faces a huge range of challenges that extend far beyond traditional cyber threats.
