Pentesting Financial Services Penetration Testing
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Financial Services Penetration Testing

Financial firms rarely test against one framework. A single institution can face PCI DSS Requirement 11.4, DORA operational-resilience testing, SWIFT CSP control validation and NYDFS Part 500 all at once, each with its own scope, cadence and evidence expectations.

RedSecLabs is built for exactly this. We hold CREST accreditation, operate as a PCI QSA company and a SWIFT CSP Assessor, and test against DORA and NYDFS Part 500, so one provider can cover the overlapping requirements a bank or fintech carries. We map a single, coherent testing programme to every framework you answer to, instead of running four disconnected engagements.

CREST Certified Pen Test Provider ISO Certified OSCP Certified Industry Certification

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✓ CREST + PCI QSA + SWIFT CSP · ✓ DORA & NYDFS Part 500 aware · ✓ Fintech & banking specialists · ✓ One programme, many frameworks · ✓ Fixed-scope engagements
Who this is for

This service fits if you’re..

1
Multi-framework firms
Banks, payment institutions and fintechs answering to PCI DSS, DORA, SWIFT and NYDFS simultaneously.
2
EU financial entities
Firms preparing for DORA operational-resilience testing and, where designated, threat-led penetration testing.
3
Payment & SWIFT users
Institutions with a cardholder data environment and SWIFT connectivity needing both assessed coherently.

Financial Services Testing, Quick Facts

Last reviewed: 2026-07-21
Frameworks covered
PCI DSS 11.4, DORA (Articles 24–27), SWIFT CSP CSCF, NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500, plus ISO 27001 and SOC 2 where relevant
Firm accreditations
CREST-accredited; PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) company; SWIFT CSP Assessor
DORA testing
DORA mandates annual testing for all covered entities; designated significant entities also face TLPT at least every three years
SWIFT CSP
Annual attestation against the Customer Security Controls Framework; we validate mandatory and advisory controls
NYDFS Part 500
Requires periodic penetration testing and annual vulnerability assessment for covered entities
Sectors
Retail and commercial banks, payment institutions, EMIs, fintechs, crypto-asset firms, investment firms
4+
Frameworks covered by one programme
QSA
PCI accreditation held
SWIFT CSP
Assessor capability
CREST
Accredited methodology

One programme across every framework

The inefficiency most financial firms live with is running separate testing engagements for each obligation: a PCI test for the CDE, a resilience test for DORA, control validation for SWIFT, a Part 500 test for the New York regulator. The scopes overlap heavily, but disconnected providers duplicate work and produce evidence that does not reconcile.

We map your obligations onto a single programme. The network and application testing that satisfies PCI 11.4 also feeds your DORA annual testing evidence; the infrastructure covered for SWIFT CSP overlaps the CDE perimeter; NYDFS penetration-testing expectations are met by the same rigorous engagement documented for a US regulator. Where you are a designated significant entity facing DORA threat-led penetration testing, we scope that as the intelligence-led red team exercise it is, distinct from your annual testing, and align it to the TIBER-EU phases your competent authority expects.

What a financial-services programme covers:
PCI DSS Requirement 11.4 internal, external and segmentation testing
DORA annual operational-resilience testing evidence (Article 24–25)
SWIFT CSP control validation against the current CSCF
NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500 penetration testing and vulnerability assessment
DORA threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) where you are designated
Reporting reconciled across frameworks, not four disconnected PDFs

One provider that genuinely holds the QSA and SWIFT CSP accreditations, tests to CREST standards, and understands DORA and NYDFS is rare, and it turns four engagements into one coherent programme.

Where financial testing goes wrong

The costly mistakes at this level are structural. Firms confuse DORA's mandatory annual testing with the separate TLPT obligation and either over- or under-scope. They run a PCI test that ignores SWIFT infrastructure sitting in the same environment. They accept a generalist provider for SWIFT CSP validation that requires an actual accredited assessor. And they duplicate spend because no single provider could cover the full obligation set.

We remove those failure modes because the accreditations are real and the frameworks are scoped together from day one.

Structural mistakes we help firms avoid:
Confusing DORA annual testing with the separate TLPT requirement
Scoping PCI and SWIFT environments in isolation when they overlap
Using a non-accredited provider for SWIFT CSP control validation
Treating NYDFS Part 500 testing as unrelated to PCI and DORA work
Duplicating spend across four disconnected engagements
Under-scoping TLPT, which is an intelligence-led red team, not a standard test

Financial-services assurance is a mapping problem before it is a testing problem. We solve the mapping first, then test once against all of it.

Need this scoped fast? Send your target list and we’ll return a fixed price within one working day.
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Framework coverage map

The main testing obligations financial firms carry, and how one RedSecLabs programme addresses each.

FrameworkTesting obligationRedSecLabs capability
PCI DSS v4.0.1Requirement 11.4 internal, external and segmentation testing, annuallyPCI QSA company; CREST-accredited testing
DORA (annual)Vulnerability assessments and penetration testing for all covered entitiesCREST testing mapped to DORA Articles 24–25
DORA (TLPT)Threat-led penetration testing every 3 years for designated significant entitiesIntelligence-led red team aligned to TIBER-EU phases
SWIFT CSPAnnual control validation against the CSCFSWIFT CSP Assessor capability
NYDFS Part 500Periodic penetration testing and annual vulnerability assessmentCREST testing documented for the NY regulator

Obligations summarised as of July 2026. DORA designation for TLPT is determined by your competent authority; annual testing applies to all covered entities regardless.

One Programme for Every Framework You Answer To

Tell us which frameworks apply, PCI, DORA, SWIFT, NYDFS, and we’ll map a single testing programme with a fixed quote within one working day.

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Where to next

Related services worth exploring.

DORA TLPT

Threat-led penetration testing for designated entities

SWIFT CSP Assessment

Control validation and attestation support

PCI DSS QSA

QSA-led PCI DSS assessment

Frequently Asked Questions

PCI DSS Requirement 11.4, DORA operational-resilience testing (including threat-led penetration testing for designated entities), SWIFT CSP control validation, and NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500, plus ISO 27001 and SOC 2 where relevant. Because we hold CREST accreditation and operate as a PCI QSA company and SWIFT CSP Assessor, one provider covers the overlapping obligations.

DORA requires all covered entities to perform regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing (Articles 24–25). Separately, entities designated as significant by their competent authority must undergo threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) at least every three years, an intelligence-led red team exercise aligned to TIBER-EU. They are distinct obligations; we scope them separately and correctly.

Accredited where it matters. RedSecLabs holds CREST accreditation, operates as a PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) company, and is a SWIFT CSP Assessor. For DORA and NYDFS, which do not have a single accrediting body, we bring CREST-standard testing documented to each regulator's expectations.

Often the underlying testing overlaps substantially, PCI, DORA annual testing and NYDFS all rely on rigorous network and application penetration testing of overlapping environments. We run the testing once where scopes align and produce reconciled evidence for each framework, rather than duplicating engagements. Framework-specific obligations like SWIFT control validation or TLPT are scoped as distinct workstreams.

Yes. Our financial-services clients span retail and commercial banks, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, fintechs, crypto-asset service providers and investment firms. The framework mix differs by firm type, and we map the programme to the obligations that actually apply to you.

Start by separating your annual testing obligation (which applies now, to all covered entities) from any TLPT designation (which your competent authority notifies you of). We can deliver the annual testing immediately and, if you are designated or expect to be, help you plan the TLPT programme, which needs long lead times given provider scarcity across the EU.
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