WorkNest Secure wins CREST cyber resilience accreditation

WorkNest Secure has achieved CREST Simulated Targeted Attack & Response for Financial Services accreditation, a standard used in cyber resilience testing for financial institutions.

The accreditation covers threat-led penetration testing designed to mirror attackers' tactics and methods. It strengthens WorkNest Secure's red team work for organisations in regulated and higher-risk sectors.

STAR-FS was developed with the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. It forms part of the framework regulators use to assess the cyber resilience of financial institutions and their critical business services.

Unlike conventional penetration testing, red teaming is intended to test how an organisation's people, processes and technology respond to a simulated attack. It uses threat intelligence to shape realistic scenarios and assess whether a business can prevent, detect and respond to an intrusion.

The accreditation follows the creation of WorkNest Secure as the cyber security division of WorkNest Group, bringing together the operations of Pentest People and Bulletproof under one brand.

WorkNest Group is part of AxiomGRC. The wider group employs more than 800 people and serves more than 50,000 customers across 10 countries.

Kirsty Fowler, Managing Director of WorkNest Secure, said: "There is growing demand for security testing that goes beyond identifying technical vulnerabilities. Red teaming gives organisations a much clearer understanding of how well their people, processes and technology work together when faced with a determined attacker.

"Achieving CREST STAR-FS accreditation is an important milestone for WorkNest Secure. It recognises the expertise of our red team and our ability to deliver intelligence-led assessments that meet one of the highest standards in the industry. More importantly, it reflects our ongoing investment in helping organisations build genuine cyber resilience through expert-led testing and practical security improvements."

Testing focus

STAR-FS assessments use commercially available threat intelligence to build attack scenarios based on current adversary behaviour. These are then applied to operational systems to test how effectively an organisation can identify, contain and respond to a targeted threat.

The certification adds to WorkNest Secure's existing CREST-accredited services and its CHECK accreditation for penetration testing. The business is positioning its offering around continuous, intelligence-led cyber risk management rather than one-off testing exercises.

Its services include penetration testing, attack simulation, incident response, outsourced data protection support, GDPR compliance and virtual Chief Information Security Officer support. It also provides certification support across standards and regulatory frameworks including ISO 27001, PCI DSS, Cyber Essentials and DORA.

WorkNest Secure also sells a platform called GuardNest, which brings together vulnerability management, threat intelligence and compliance tooling. The software is intended to give customers a single view of their security and compliance position.

Dominic Mortimer, Head of Red Team at WorkNest Secure, said: "Red teaming is about understanding what would happen if a skilled attacker genuinely targeted your organisation. It is designed to replicate realistic attack scenarios, challenge assumptions and give organisations valuable insight into how effectively their security controls, detection capabilities and response processes perform under pressure.

"Our investment in STAR-FS accreditation shows our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of technical assurance and continuing to develop our offensive security capabilities as customer requirements grow."