Social Engineering Penetration Testing
Strengthen your organisation from the inside out. Simulated social engineering penetration testing to help train your staff, uncover human vulnerabilities, and protect your critical data against real-world threats.
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Trusted by top UK brands
20+ Years of Experience
What is social engineering penetration testing?
Social engineering penetration testing assesses how vulnerable your organisation is to real-world manipulation and deception tactics.
CodeShield’s experienced professionals use a range of methods, such as targeted phishing and vishing campaigns, to probe your defences and test employee awareness in realistic scenarios.
What you get with CodeShield’s social engineering:
- Open source intelligence gathering to identify possible attack vectors
- Phishing, vishing, and other tailored social engineering attacks against agreed targets
- Perimeter and internal surveillance simulations
- Attempts at data exfiltration or gaining access to sensitive assets and intellectual property
- Comprehensive, plain-English reporting with clear findings and actionable, best-practice recommendations
Take the First Step Toward Better Security
CREST Accredited Penetration Testing Experts
CodeShield is proud to be a CREST Accredited Company, an internationally recognised accreditation that demonstrates our commitment to delivering high-quality cyber security services to recognised industry standards. This achievement reflects the strength of our technical expertise, testing methodologies, quality processes, and client-focused approach.
Our team brings over 20 years of combined penetration testing experience, helping organisations across the UK identify vulnerabilities, strengthen security controls, and meet compliance requirements including ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOC 2 and DSPT. From web applications and cloud environments to internal networks and red team engagements, every assessment is carried out by experienced security professionals focused on delivering practical, actionable results.
When you choose CodeShield for CREST accredited penetration testing, you're partnering with a trusted UK security consultancy that combines independent assurance, technical excellence, and clear guidance to help protect your business against real-world threats.
Enhanced Security
Identify and fix human vulnerabilities in your organisation by assessing how employees respond to simulated social engineering threats building a security-first mindset across your team.
Tailored Training
Empower your staff with practical, real-world training based on scenarios they might actually face, so they can recognise and shut down attacks before they cause harm.
Professional Reporting
Receive detailed, jargon-free reports that spotlight where your human defences need work, with clear, step-by-step recommendations to boost awareness and reduce risk.
Continuous Support
Stay resilient with continuous expert support and resources designed to help your team adapt to new threats and maintain a strong defence against social engineering.
End-to-end service
Work with a dedicated expert from start to finish. No handoffs, no confusion. Seamless coordination, with the same specialist guiding your cyber security assessment, testing, and results.
Transparent, Fair Pricing
Our precise, tailored approach means you only pay for what matters. Targeted, efficient security penetration testing delivers the best value for your investment.
Professional Reporting
Receive detailed, jargon-free reports that spotlight where your human defences need work, with clear, step-by-step recommendations to boost awareness and reduce risk.
Continuous Support
Stay resilient with continuous expert support and resources designed to help your team adapt to new threats and maintain a strong defence against social engineering.
Our social engineering testing methodology and vishing assessment approach
Scoping
Our team works with you to define the objectives, scope, and rules of engagement for the social engineering assessment. This phase identifies key targets such as employees, departments, or processes that may be susceptible to manipulation. The scope may include phishing (email, SMS, or voice), physical security testing, or impersonation attempts. Boundaries are clearly defined to ensure the exercise aligns with your goals and avoids unintentional disruption to operations.
Intel Gathering
We collect information about your organisation and its employees using open-source intelligence (OSINT) and other reconnaissance techniques. This includes gathering publicly available data from social media profiles, company websites, and third-party platforms. The goal is to identify potential weaknesses, such as employees with high levels of access, commonly used communication channels, or exploitable organisational processes.
Scenario Design
Based on the intelligence gathered, we design realistic social engineering attack scenarios. These may include phishing campaigns, pretexting (posing as a trusted individual), baiting (luring employees with physical or digital media), or tailgating attempts to gain physical access to restricted areas. Scenarios are crafted to mimic tactics used by real-world attackers, while ensuring they stay within the agreed-upon scope and ethical guidelines.
Exploitation
We execute the social engineering scenarios to test the susceptibility of employees and processes. This may involve sending targeted phishing emails, making phone calls to extract sensitive information, or attempting to gain physical access to secure areas. Each attempt is carefully monitored and documented, ensuring no harm or disruption to the organisation’s operations. The execution phase focuses on identifying weaknesses without causing reputational damage or data loss.
Response Analysis
During the engagement, we assess how employees and systems respond to the simulated social engineering attacks. This includes evaluating whether employees recognise and report suspicious activities, how internal processes mitigate potential threats, and the overall effectiveness of security awareness training. The response analysis provides insights into areas that require reinforcement or improvement.
Reporting
We compile a detailed report summarising the outcomes of the social engineering engagement. The report includes a breakdown of each scenario, the methods used, and the results achieved. It highlights vulnerabilities, employee interactions, and organisational weaknesses, alongside practical recommendations for improving awareness and resilience. The report is designed to be actionable, enabling immediate and long-term improvements in security practices.
Debriefing
The engagement concludes with a debriefing session where we review the findings with your team. We walk through the scenarios, demonstrate methods used, and discuss employee responses. This collaborative session allows for open discussion, addressing any concerns and providing actionable advice for enhancing security awareness and strengthening organisational defences against social engineering threats.
Common Social Engineering Techniques and Phishing Scenarios
This includes testing staff and stakeholders via email, social media, phone calls, or even in-person scenarios. Every CodeShield engagement is tailored to your organisation’s specific risks and needs, following a thorough scoping phase.
Some of the most common threats we test for include:
- Smishing
- Quid Pro Quo
- Pretexting
- Honeytrap
- Tailgating/Piggybacking
- Phishing
- Whaling
- Baiting
- Diversion Theft
- Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Benefits of social engineering penetration testing
Thinking about social engineering penetration testing? Here’s how your organisation can benefit
- Reveal how vulnerable your employees are to real-world social engineering attacks.
- Assess the true effectiveness of your security policies and cyber controls in practice, not just on paper.
- Build a more targeted and effective security awareness program based on real findings.
- Uncover the public information an attacker could use against your organisation.
- Meet and maintain compliance standards such as ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS.
Is social engineering penetration testing right for you?
If you’re responsible for your organisation’s security, ask yourself
- What publicly available information could help an attacker target my organisation?
- Are my employees vulnerable to phishing or social engineering tactics?
- Is sensitive information at risk from misplaced documents or unsecured files?
- Could an attacker extract valuable data by removing hardware from the premises?
If you’re unsure about any of these, social engineering penetration testing with CodeShield can give you the clarity and confidence you need to strengthen your human defences.
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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Do I need Social Engineering?
To this day human error remains the weakest link in most companies cyber security strategy. Awareness of social engineering tactics is crucial for protecting your organisation from the most common types of threats. Even with the best technical controls one clicks on the wrong attachment in an email can compromise an entire network. By regularly evaluating your staff’s awareness to these types of attacks you can learn from the results, spot where the largest weakness lies and educate your team to massively improve your cyber security.
What social engineering techniques do hackers use?
Hackers use many different social engineering techniques to manipulate people into giving up sensitive information, some will craft targeted emails towards key individuals in a company like board level executives and members of the finance team. While others will send out thousands of blanket approach emails hoping to catch companies less educated in these types of attacks. With many different tactics which are constantly changing and adapting with the times the best way to stay prepared is engaging in regular awareness exercises.
How can I protect myself against social engineering attacks?
Ongoing employee education is seen as the best defence against social engineering attacks, conducting frequent training is a good strategy for all companies. Additionally, remaining vigilant to suspicious activity and keeping up to date with industry trends and the latest types of attacks.
Resources
Knowledge and insights to help strengthen your digital security.