Benefits of GDPR Penetration Testing
GDPR penetration testing evaluates applications, APIs, infrastructure and processing systems that handle personal data. It supports the regular testing, assessment and evaluation required by Article 32(1)(d) of the UK GDPR by identifying vulnerabilities that could expose data or enable a breach. A penetration test provides technical assurance evidence, but it is one part of a wider GDPR compliance programme.
Common vulnerabilities found during GDPR Penetration Testing
Broken Access Control
Personal Data Exposure
Weak Authentication & Sessions
Injection & Application Flaws
Insecure Data Transmission & Storage
Misconfigured Infrastructure & APIs
Want to find out if your assets have these vulnerabilities?
Client Testimonials
Don’t just trust our word for it; hear what our clients have to say about working with our team.
“The team at Sencode are flexible and easy to work with while also being extremely diligent and professional in what they do. As a result, we regard Sencode as a critical partner in ensuring our software is properly tested.”
Chief Technical Officer
Huler
“We held a briefing meeting with Callum to demo the system, answer relevant questions, and provide access for testing. Once the testing was completed, the report was efficient and comprehensive.”
Project Manager
Trinity College Dublin
“The team was super friendly, knowledgeable, and happy to chat with us. They did really great work, and I’m very happy that we got to work with them.”
IT Director
Diversity and Ability
“All conversations with Sencode have been very easy, and it’s clear that the team know their stuff. From the initial chat to the retesting process, we’ve been kept informed and supported throughout.”
Digital Lead
Verve Group
“Sencode have conducted our penetration testing for the last two years. Each time, they were professional, polite and kept us informed throughout the process. The reports were received in a timely manner and were concisely written. All this and at a competitive rate.”
Technical Engineer
Pip Studios
“Working with Sencode has been brilliant. You can tell they genuinely love what they do – it shows in how thoroughly they test everything and dig into the details. Even a non-tech person could understand what they found and what needed fixing.”
Cyber Security Specialist
Home Group
What is included in our GDPR Penetration Testing Service
What does choosing a CREST provider mean?
CREST accreditation is an independent, rigorous assessment of technical competence, process and data security. Choosing a CREST-accredited provider means your testing is delivered to a standard you can trust – and evidence you can stand behind.
Certified Penetration Testing Consultants
Our consultants are highly trained and individually certified.
Proven Pen Test Methodologies
Our pen testing follows recognised best practices: PTES, OWASP, and NIST.
Compliant reporting
Our reports provide executive context, technical evidence, risk-rated findings and practical remediation guidance.
ISO aligned
Our information security and quality policies align with ISO 27001 and ISO 9001.
Grey, Black and White Box Penetration Testing
At Sencode, we test from every perspective. Not sure which fits your needs? Speak to a member of our team; our experts are on hand to advise.
Our GDPR Penetration Testing Methodology
Identify the applications, APIs, infrastructure and processing activities in scope, including where personal data is collected, stored, transmitted and accessed.
Agree the black-box, grey-box or white-box perspective, test accounts, environments, boundaries and communication routes needed for safe assessment.
Map the exposed functionality, technologies, interfaces and trust boundaries that could provide access to systems handling personal data.
Use manual and automated techniques informed by OWASP, NIST and PTES to identify technical weaknesses, insecure configurations and access-control failures.
Safely validate exploitable findings and demonstrate realistic attack paths without unnecessarily accessing, altering or extracting personal data.
Assess how confirmed vulnerabilities could affect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of personal data and related processing services.
Provide a clear technical report with evidence, severity, business impact and prioritised remediation, alongside context relevant to Article 32 security testing.
Support remediation and complete the included retest to verify that corrected vulnerabilities are no longer exploitable.
Penetration test reports, delivered securely.
Clear reporting turns technical findings into practical action. Every engagement includes evidence, prioritised remediation guidance and content that both technical teams and decision-makers can understand.
Contact a consulting team member by phone, email, or pigeon post. We will then discuss whether we can help you and arrange a scoping meeting to discuss your requirements.
In the scoping meeting, our team will discuss your requirements in further detail. Our team will ask questions in regards to the following:
Our expert consultants will discuss and finalise which digital assets you need testing in the scoping meeting. Based on the requirements, we will then assemble a project proposal and quote and agree on a schedule for conducting the security assessment. Our proposal document will include the following information:
The Penetration Testing starts. A member of our Penetration Testing team will liaise with a member of your company throughout the entire testing process. You will be the first to know if we have any questions or concerns. Our testing team will be on hand throughout the penetration test lifecycle to answer any questions or concerns. Our tester will:
A Penetration Test is useless without a well-written report. Our reports are written in plain English, concise, and thoroughly documented. The Penetration Test Report is typically furnished within 5 days after the testing phase is complete. If you are interested in seeing an example report, please contact our team.
Each report details the following:
At Sencode, we offer free retesting for every Penetration Test we conduct. You fix the issues; then we will verify they can no longer be exploited by an attacker. Our team will arrange a mutually suitable time to conduct the retest, after the remediation efforts have taken place. Our tester will follow these steps:
Our clients receive a testing certificate that can be shared with partners and customers, showing that their company takes security seriously. The certificate and document are designed to be easily digested by third-party suppliers, the document removes the technical details and can be safely distributed.
The Security Testing Certificate is available on request, after the retest has been complete. The security certificate shows:
Get in touch for a consultation.
Contact a consulting team member by phone, email, or pigeon post. We will then discuss whether we can help you and arrange a scoping meeting to discuss your requirements.
In the scoping meeting, our team will discuss your requirements in further detail. Our team will ask questions in regards to the following:
Frequently Asked Questions: GDPR Penetration Testing
Article 32 requires controllers and processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures for the security of personal data. Article 32(1)(d) specifically requires a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of those measures. Article 32 also identifies measures such as pseudonymisation and encryption, maintaining confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience, and restoring access to personal data following an incident.
The UK GDPR does not explicitly require every organisation to commission a penetration test by name. It does require security measures appropriate to the risk and a process for regularly testing their effectiveness. Penetration testing is a widely used method to evaluate technical controls and provide assurance evidence, particularly for internet-facing or high-risk systems that process personal data. It should form part of a broader risk-management and compliance programme.
The cost depends on the number and type of assets, application complexity, testing perspective, user roles, infrastructure and amount of manual testing required. A smaller application generally requires fewer testing days than a complex commercial platform with multiple APIs and roles. Sencode scopes each engagement before providing a fixed-price proposal based on the work required.
No. A penetration test evaluates defined technical systems at a point in time and cannot, by itself, certify GDPR compliance. It can identify security weaknesses, support the regular testing requirement in Article 32 and provide evidence for your wider compliance programme. Governance, policies, lawful processing, staff practices, supplier controls and ongoing risk management must also be addressed.
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