Does this help with DORA compliance?

Yes. Under DORA, identified financial entities must perform threat-led penetration testing, based on the TIBER-EU framework. Our engagements are designed to support those obligations; confirm formal scope with our experts for regulated tests.

Typically yes. To realistically measure detection and response, your defensive (blue) team is not told the test is underway, with oversight handled by a small control team.

Where does the threat intelligence come from?

From industry threat profiling plus ImmuniWeb® Discovery, which continuously maps your external attack surface and Dark Web exposure to ground scenarios in real-world data.

ImmuniWeb Use CasesThreat-Led Penetration Testing Services

Threat-Led Penetration Testing Services

Powered by ImmuniWeb Discovery

Go beyond checklist pentesting. ImmuniWeb® threat-led penetration testing emulates the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) of the threat actors that actually target your industry — built on hybrid human + AI testing and fed by ImmuniWeb® Discovery attack-surface and Dark Web intelligence, with a contractual zero false positives SLA.

Intelligence-Ledscenarios built on real threat-actor TTPs

DORA & TIBER-EU Alignedsupports your TLPT obligations

Forensic-Level Reportingattack paths and detection gaps

Zero False Positives SLAmoney-back guarantee

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Why Threat-Led Penetration Testing Is a Business Resilience Lever

Standard pentests check a broad list of known issues; they rarely answer the board's real question — could a determined attacker targeting us actually get in, and would we notice? Threat-led testing answers that, satisfies regulators like DORA, and turns abstract cyber risk into a concrete, defensible resilience story for your stakeholders.

Comparison matrix:

With Threat-Led Penetration Testing

Resilience proven against the actors that target you
Detection and response gaps measured, not assumed
Evidence to support DORA TLPT obligations
Board-level resilience narrative with attack paths
Prioritized, threat-aware remediation

With Standard Testing Only

Confidence based only on generic vulnerability lists
Blind to whether your blue team would even notice
Regulatory exposure and audit findings
Technical bug lists with no business context
Effort spread thin across low-impact issues

Standard Pentest vs Threat-Led Penetration Test

	Standard Penetration Test	Threat-Led Penetration Test
Driver	Known vulnerability checklist	Real threat intelligence and TTPs
Scope	Defined systems in isolation	Critical functions, end-to-end attack paths
Awareness	Blue team usually informed	Covert — tests real detection & response
Outcome	List of vulnerabilities	Measured resilience and response gaps
Best For	Routine assurance & compliance	Mature security, DORA, high-value targets

Recommendation: Standard pentesting is the right baseline for most assets. Threat-led testing is for when you need to know how you would fare against a real, targeted adversary — and when regulators such as DORA require it. ImmuniWeb combines hybrid testing with attack-surface and Dark Web intelligence to make threat-led engagements practical.

Threat-Led Engagement Scope

ImmuniWeb® Discovery monitors your third parties across four dimensions:

Threat Intelligence & Scenario Design

Industry- and entity-specific threat profiling
Attack-surface and Dark Web intelligence (ImmuniWeb® Discovery)
Threat-actor TTP selection and scenario design
Critical / important function (CIF) scoping

Adversary Emulation (TTPs)

Reconnaissance and initial access
Privilege escalation and lateral movement
Credential access and persistence
Objective-based, chained multi-step exploitation

Detection & Response Assessment

Covert testing of blue-team detection
Time-to-detect and time-to-respond measurement
Control-effectiveness evaluation
Purple-team replay workshop

Reporting & Regulatory Alignment

Forensic-level attack-path reporting
Detection-gap and remediation roadmap
Alignment with DORA TLPT and TIBER-EU principles
Evidence pack for auditors and supervisors

MITRE ATT&CK Tactics We Emulate

Reconnaissance

We gather intelligence on your exposed assets and people.

Initial Access

We attempt realistic entry via your weakest exposed points.

Execution

We run adversary techniques to establish a foothold.

Persistence

We test whether access can be maintained over time.

Privilege Escalation

We try to gain higher-level permissions.

Defense Evasion

We assess whether we can avoid your detection controls.

Credential Access

We target stored and in-transit credentials.

Lateral Movement

We pivot toward your critical functions and data.

Collection

We identify and stage high-value target data.

Exfiltration

We test whether data could leave undetected.

The 6-Phase Threat-Led Testing Workflow

Scoping & Threat Intelligence

We profile relevant threat actors and your critical functions. Artifact: a targeted threat-intelligence report and scope.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Scenario Design

We translate intelligence into bespoke attack scenarios. Artifact: a red-team test plan.

Reconnaissance

We map your real attack surface and entry points. Artifact: a reconnaissance and exposure summary.

Phase 3

Phase 4

Adversary Emulation

We execute the scenarios end-to-end, covertly. Artifact: documented attack paths with proof-of-concept.

Detection & Purple-Team Replay

We measure detection/response and replay with your blue team. Artifact: a detection-gap and response assessment.

Phase 5

Phase 6

Reporting & Remediation

You receive a forensic report and roadmap. Artifact: an evidence pack aligned with DORA TLPT / TIBER-EU.

Purple Teaming: Improving Detection & Response

The value of threat-led testing is in what your defenders learn. Every engagement closes with a purple-team replay: red and blue teams walk through each attack path together, pinpoint where detection failed, and turn findings into concrete detection rules, response-playbook updates and training. Resilience becomes measurable and improves cycle over cycle.

Industry-Specific Threat Modeling

Threat-led testing is most valuable where adversaries are targeted and regulators are strict:

Banking & Financial Services

Scenario-based testing of critical functions to support DORA TLPT obligations, aligned with the TIBER-EU framework.

Insurance & Payment Institutions

Adversary emulation against fraud, payment and customer-data flows under DORA and PCI DSS.

Critical Infrastructure & Utilities

Targeted resilience testing aligned with NIS 2 for high-impact operational environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q

What is Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT)?

A

It is intelligence-led testing that emulates the specific threat actors likely to target your organization, evaluating not just vulnerabilities but your ability to detect and respond to a real attack.
Q

Does this help with DORA compliance?

A

Yes. Under DORA, identified financial entities must perform threat-led penetration testing, based on the TIBER-EU framework. Our engagements are designed to support those obligations; confirm formal scope with our experts for regulated tests.
Q

Is the test covert?

A

Typically yes. To realistically measure detection and response, your defensive (blue) team is not told the test is underway, with oversight handled by a small control team.
Q

Where does the threat intelligence come from?

A

From industry threat profiling plus ImmuniWeb® Discovery, which continuously maps your external attack surface and Dark Web exposure to ground scenarios in real-world data.

Validated by 1,000+ Global Customers & Top Analysts

dunnhumby leverages ImmuniWeb Discovery to, among other things, help identify security vulnerabilities and misconfigurations externally exposed in our environment and particularly in third-party hosted applications. ImmuniWeb Discovery is also successfully used to monitor and rapidly identify dunnhumby’s data exposed on the Dark Web, as well as to detect other types of security incidents. The high quality of findings and surprisingly low false positive rate produced by ImmuniWeb Discovery means it represents an immediate value to our Security Operations team.