April 30, 2026
Updated: November 3, 2026
A buyer-focused comparison of penetration testing providers serving Sweden, with evidence-based provider classifications, testing-model distinctions, regulatory context, and a practical procurement checklist.
Mohammed Khalil

Swedish security and procurement teams evaluating penetration testing companies need to compare more than headquarters or brand recognition. This guide reviews providers serving Sweden by human testing depth, delivery model, local relationship, reporting and retesting evidence, and practical buyer fit. It includes Sweden-headquartered firms, providers with Swedish delivery presence, and a cross-border specialist. The method matters because a localized webpage does not prove local testers, Swedish-language reporting, on-site availability, or the same technical depth across services. Company profiles were rechecked against each provider's official website in November 2026.
Comparing providers beyond Sweden? Our list of the top penetration testing companies worldwide covers firms that deliver testing across regions.
For neighboring Nordic markets, see Norway and Finland.
Editorial disclosure: DeepStrike publishes this article and is included in the comparison. DeepStrike is listed first as an editorial choice, not because an independent universal ranking established it as the best provider for every organization. List order is not a quality ranking. The same evidence categories are used across the list, and buyers should independently verify scope, assigned testers, contracting entity, terms, references, data handling, and local-delivery requirements before signing.
The candidate pool combined Sweden-headquartered testing firms, providers with a Swedish office or legal entity, and cross-border specialists that state they serve Swedish buyers, found through provider websites, Swedish-language service pages, and published business addresses. The comparison uses public, first-party evidence reviewed for the August 10, 2026 research baseline and rechecked against official provider websites on November 3, 2026. A company entered the main list only when the research set showed a current penetration-testing or directly relevant offensive-security service, a meaningful human-led component, a defensible relationship to Swedish buyers, and enough evidence to explain a concrete buyer fit and a verification question. This is desk research: DeepStrike did not test the other providers' services.
We did not create numerical quality scores. The qualitative dimensions are testing scope, visible human-led depth, application/API/cloud/mobile/infrastructure or adversary-simulation fit, Swedish relationship, reporting/remediation/retesting evidence, methodology transparency, practical buyer fit, and the quality of available evidence.
The relationship labels mean different things. Sweden-headquartered provider indicates a provider rooted in Sweden; provider with a verified Swedish office, legal entity, or delivery team indicates a current Swedish presence without implying that every tester is local; and international cross-border provider explicitly able to serve Swedish buyers indicates delivery into Sweden without claiming a Swedish office. Buyers should still confirm language, on-site work, security-clearance needs, data processing, subcontractors, and the exact contracting entity.
| Provider | Sweden relationship | Verified testing model | Strongest evidenced fit | Public retest/report evidence | Key item to verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepStrike | Remote delivery; HQ Newark, Delaware; no Swedish office | Human-led application, cloud, and infrastructure testing | Engineering teams needing remediation collaboration | Basic plan lists 12 months of remediation retesting; reports include reproduction steps | Tester location, data handling, Swedish-language or on-site needs |
| Truesec | Stockholm HQ; Malmö office | Penetration testing plus red, purple, and continuous red teaming | Swedish enterprises wanting a local offensive team | Interactive report walkthrough; retest not described | Assigned specialists and retest terms |
| Outpost24 | Founded in Sweden (2001); 13 offices | PTaaS and expert-verified application testing within an exposure platform | Teams wanting testing inside vulnerability management | Platform-based results; terms vary by package | Human-led versus automated deliverables |
| Orange Cyberdefense Sweden | Malmö office | Penetration testing and red/blue teaming within managed security | Organisations using a managed security provider | Not detailed on the Swedish homepage | Named testers, sample report, independence from monitoring |
| Knowit | Stockholm HQ | PTES-based testing, manual plus automated | Testing linked to wider security and legal consulting | Severity-graded report and verbal walkthrough | Manual effort and retest terms |
| CyberStrike AB | Solna | Penetration testing and red teaming | Small specialist engagements | Example report published online | Capacity and assigned testers |
| eBuilder Security | Kista; Sweden-based testers stated | Black/grey/white-box testing across web, cloud, AD, mobile | Scoped tests with built-in retest | Retest stated as included; CVSS-rated reports | CREST claim on the register; retest window |
| Cyloq | Solna (Pyramidvägen 7) | At least two testers per test | Specialist tests with immediate critical escalation | Prioritised report; retest not described | Tester seniority and retest terms |
| Basalt | Enköping and Stockholm | Tiered testing (Basic automated; Standard/Advanced manual), OT and physical | Security-sensitive and OT environments | Manual report with severity ratings in higher tiers | Tier purchased and clearance requirements |

Public offering: DeepStrike's penetration testing services describe human-led testing across applications, cloud environments, and infrastructure, supported by a findings and collaboration platform. Its public process covers planning, reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, controlled exploitation, reporting, and technical support. Published reports include reproduction steps, remediation guidance, and root-cause information; the proposal should define exact coverage and commercial terms.
Sweden relevance: Founded in 2016, DeepStrike LLC is headquartered in Newark, Delaware, has 11–50 employees, and also publishes a business address in Dubai, UAE (IFZA Business Park). It delivers testing remotely for Swedish clients; define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Team certifications: OSCP, OSWE, OSEP, OSWP, GXPN, GWAPT, eCPPT, eMAPT, eWPT, CREST CPSA, CRTP, CRTE, and Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate, as shown on DeepStrike's services page.
Official sources: Pricing , Contact Us
Buyer fit: Engineering teams that need application, cloud, or infrastructure testing with direct remediation collaboration.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| Human-led testing with reproduction evidence, root-cause information, and remediation guidance. | The service description is not an independently measured quality comparison. Assess the assigned team and a relevant sample report. |
| The published Basic plan lists Slack collaboration, customizable reports, and 12 months of remediation retesting. | No numeric price is displayed on the pricing page. Basic is a one-shot test; recurring coverage belongs to a different plan, with contract-specific terms. |
| Team certifications shown on the services page include OSCP, OSWE, OSEP, OSWP, GXPN, GWAPT, eCPPT, eMAPT, eWPT, CREST CPSA, CRTP, CRTE, and Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate. | These are individual tester credentials, not a company-level accreditation; ask which certified testers will be assigned to your engagement. |

Public offering: Truesec's penetration testing page covers penetration testing, red team and purple team exercises, continuous red teaming, external exposure assessments, threat impact assessments, and agile security testing alongside development teams. Its process runs from a scoping meeting through intelligence-led execution to an interactive feedback session on the report, with optional help implementing fixes. The page states 300+ annual penetration test assignments and 30+ offensive security specialists.
Sweden relevance: Truesec publishes its headquarters at Luntmakargatan 18, Stockholm, and an office in Malmö. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://www.truesec.com/service/penetration-testing; https://www.truesec.com/contact
Buyer fit: Swedish organisations that want penetration testing and red or purple teaming from a local offensive security team.
What sets it apart in Sweden: Truesec pairs a large in-house offensive team (30+ specialists and 300+ annual assignments by its own figures) with continuous red teaming, a combination few Sweden-headquartered firms on this list publish.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| Services range from scoped penetration tests to red, purple, and continuous red teaming. | Retesting is not described on the service page; confirm remediation verification terms. |
| Findings are walked through in an interactive feedback session rather than only delivered as a report. | Scale figures are self-reported; ask which specialists will be assigned to your engagement. |

Public offering: Outpost24 offers continuous threat exposure management, including external attack surface management combined with PTaaS, continuous application security testing with expert-verified results, AI and LLM pentesting, DAST, PCI DSS ASV scanning with pentesting, vulnerability management, and managed security.
Sweden relevance: Outpost24 states it was founded in Sweden in 2001 by a team of ethical hackers and lists 13 offices internationally. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://outpost24.com/; https://outpost24.com/about-us/
Buyer fit: Security teams that want human testing combined with a platform for attack surface and vulnerability management.
What sets it apart in Sweden: Outpost24 is the only provider on this list whose testing sits inside its own exposure-management platform, which suits buyers who want pentest findings and scanning data in one tool rather than a stand-alone consultancy report.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| PTaaS and application testing are integrated with attack surface and vulnerability management tooling. | Clarify which deliverables are human-led penetration tests and which are automated scanning. |
| The company describes its ethical hackers as central to its offering. | Confirm tester location, retest entitlement, and which platform features are included in the quote. |

Public offering: Orange Cyberdefense Sweden lists advisory and audit, penetration testing, and red and blue teaming under its identify services, alongside threat intelligence, network and endpoint protection, managed detection and response, incident response, and digital forensics.
Sweden relevance: Orange Cyberdefense Sweden AB is based in Hyllie, Malmö. Its Swedish website blocked automated access during the November 2026 check, so confirm the contracting entity and the Swedish delivery team directly. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://www.orangecyberdefense.com/se/
Buyer fit: Larger organisations that want penetration testing coordinated with a managed security services provider.
What sets it apart in Sweden: Orange Cyberdefense is the option here for buyers who want testing from a group that can also run detection, response, and forensics; that convenience is also why testing independence needs to be agreed up front.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| Penetration testing and red/blue teaming sit alongside detection, response, and forensics services. | The Swedish homepage gives little testing methodology detail; request a sample report and named testers. |
| Security monitoring and incident response are offered alongside testing. | If Orange also monitors your environment, agree how testing independence will be maintained. |

Public offering: Knowit's security reviews and penetration testing service covers web applications and APIs, mobile applications, networks, cloud, infrastructure, IoT, and LLMs, plus red team exercises and DORA-oriented technical testing. Testing follows an in-house methodology based on PTES and combines manual work with automated testing where appropriate. Deliverables include a severity-graded report with remediation proposals and a verbal walkthrough online or on site.
Sweden relevance: Knowit AB publishes its headquarters in Stockholm (Sveavägen 20). Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://www.knowit.se/vart-erbjudande/cybersakerhet-och-juridik/sakerhetsgranskningar-inklusive-penetrationstester/; https://www.knowit.se/
Buyer fit: Swedish organisations that want penetration testing connected to wider security, legal, and compliance consulting.
What sets it apart in Sweden: Knowit is a broad Swedish IT consultancy whose testing sits in a cybersecurity and legal practice, useful when a Cybersecurity Act or DORA programme needs technical testing and compliance or legal advice from one supplier.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| Scope spans applications, APIs, cloud, infrastructure, IoT, and LLMs, with a PTES-based method. | Confirm the split between manual and automated testing for your scope. |
| Results include a verbal walkthrough, available on site. | No tester certifications are listed on the page; ask for tester profiles and retest terms. |

Public offering: CyberStrike AB offers red teaming (full-scope or assumed breach) and penetration testing of web applications and APIs, mobile applications, infrastructure, cloud, Active Directory, and Wi-Fi. It publishes an example penetration test report on its website.
Sweden relevance: CyberStrike AB publishes its address at Kolonnvägen 2, Solna. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Certifications: The website lists team certifications including OSCE3, OSWE, OSEP, OSED, OSCP, OSWP, AWS Certified Security – Specialty, and Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate.
Official sources: https://www.cyberstrike.se/; https://www.cyberstrike.se/#contact
Buyer fit: Swedish teams that want a small specialist for penetration testing or red teaming.
What sets it apart in Sweden: CyberStrike is one of the few providers here that publishes an example penetration test report, so buyers can judge report depth before contacting sales; its listed team credentials lean toward advanced OffSec certifications.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| A sample penetration test report is published for review before buying. | Confirm capacity and scheduling for large or concurrent engagements. |
| Testing covers application, cloud, Active Directory, infrastructure, and Wi-Fi scopes. | Individual credentials are not a company-level accreditation; ask which testers will be assigned. |

Public offering: eBuilder Security's penetration testing page covers web application and API, internal and external network, cloud configuration and identity, Active Directory, mobile, and red team and social engineering testing, in black-, grey-, or white-box modes. Its process runs from scoping through exploitation and reporting to remediation support and a retest, which the page states is included at no extra cost. Reports include CVSS-rated findings with evidence, an executive summary, and a live walkthrough.
Sweden relevance: eBuilder Sweden AB publishes its address at Kista Science Tower, Färögatan 33, Kista, and states that testers are Sweden-based and reports stay within Swedish jurisdiction. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://ebuildersecurity.se/en/solutions/penetration-testing-services/; https://ebuildersecurity.se/en/contact-us/
Buyer fit: Swedish organisations that want a scoped penetration test with remediation support and a retest built into the fee.
What sets it apart in Sweden: eBuilder addresses data residency most directly of the providers here, stating that its testers are Sweden-based and that reports stay within Swedish jurisdiction, which matters to public-sector and security-sensitive buyers.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| The service page states that a retest is included in every engagement. | Confirm the retest window and how many verification cycles are covered. |
| Published methodology references OWASP WSTG, PTES, NIST SP 800-115, and OSSTMM. | The site describes its testing as CREST-certified; verify the entity on CREST's register before relying on it. |

Public offering: Cyloq's penetration testing page covers web applications, mobile applications, infrastructure and Active Directory, and hardware and IoT. It states that each test is performed by at least two offensive specialists, that critical findings are reported immediately, and that the report prioritises concrete remediation steps. Related services include red teaming, vulnerability scanning, AI security testing, and security training.
Sweden relevance: Cyloq AB (organisation number 559401-9027) publishes an address at Pyramidvägen 7, Solna, on its contact page. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://www.cyloq.se/penetrationstester; https://www.cyloq.se/kontakt
Buyer fit: Swedish organisations that want a specialist test with at least two testers and immediate escalation of critical findings.
What sets it apart in Sweden: Cyloq publishes a concrete staffing commitment, at least two offensive specialists per test, which few providers here state and which helps when comparing quotes for the same scope.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| Each test is stated to involve at least two offensive specialists. | Confirm the seniority of the assigned testers and the time allocated. |
| Methodology references OSSTMM, OWASP, NIST, PTES, and ISSAF. | Retesting is not described on the page; agree remediation verification terms in the proposal. |

Public offering: Basalt's penetration testing page describes web application testing in Basic, Standard, and Advanced tiers, infrastructure testing (including IoT and OT, with purple and red team options), mobile testing, physical penetration testing, social engineering, and OT testing. Standard and Advanced tiers include a manual report with likelihood, impact, and severity ratings; the Basic tier produces an automated report.
Sweden relevance: Basalt publishes offices in Enköping (Basaltgatan 3) and Stockholm (Olof Palmes gata 29), and also offers security protection and total defence services. Define tester locations, permitted subcontracting, and data-handling restrictions in the engagement agreement.
Official sources: https://www.basalt.se/vara-erbjudanden/it-och-informationssakerhet/penetrationstester/; https://www.basalt.se/kontakt/
Buyer fit: Swedish organisations with security-sensitive or OT environments that want testing alongside security protection work.
What sets it apart in Sweden: Basalt is the provider here most closely tied to protective security and total defence work, and it lists OT and physical penetration testing next to security protection services; confirm tester clearance status if your engagement needs a security protection agreement.
| Documented strengths | Limits and buying considerations |
|---|---|
| Testing spans web, infrastructure, OT, mobile, physical, and social engineering, with purple and red team options. | The Basic tier is automated; confirm which tier you are buying and the manual effort included. |
| Security protection and total defence services are offered alongside testing. | The page does not state whether testers hold security clearances; confirm if your engagement requires them. |
A provider can serve a Swedish organization in several legitimate ways, but the models are not interchangeable.
A Sweden-headquartered provider may simplify local procurement and stakeholder communication, but headquarters does not prove that the assigned pentester is in Sweden, that the report will be written in Swedish, or that on-site work is included. A provider with a Swedish office, entity, or team has a local operating relationship, yet the technical work may still be delivered by a regional or global specialist. A cross-border provider can be appropriate for remote application, API, cloud, or network scopes, but buyers need to resolve contractual jurisdiction, data processing, evidence transfer, time zones, and any on-site or clearance constraints.
For that reason, “local” should be decomposed into questions: Who signs the contract? Where are the assigned testers? Where is evidence stored? Can the team work on-site if required? Is Swedish-language reporting needed? Are there public-procurement or security-protection requirements? Does the engagement permit subcontractors? The provider’s address is only one part of the answer.
Start from the objective and your Swedish constraints, then compare evidence. Record the assets and user roles in scope; whether you need a Swedish contracting entity, Swedish-language reporting, cleared testers, or a security protection agreement; and whether DORA TLPT applies. Then ask each shortlisted provider for named testers, a redacted sample report, and written retest terms.
Start with the objective, not the vendor list. A release-focused web application assessment, a cloud identity review, a PCI-scoped test, and a DORA TLPT exercise are fundamentally different procurement problems.
List applications, APIs, cloud accounts, external/internal networks, mobile apps, identities, privileged roles, integrations, and third parties that matter. Decide whether you need authenticated testing and which user roles should be exercised. A vague asset count is not a complete scope.
For application-heavy environments, ask the provider to explain how its web application penetration testing approach handles authorization, business logic, and multi-role flows not just common scanner findings.
Record whether you require a Swedish contracting entity, Swedish-language reporting, on-site work, security clearance, local data handling, specific subcontractor restrictions, public-procurement eligibility, or EU-only evidence storage. These conditions can eliminate otherwise capable providers before technical comparison begins.
Ask whether the engagement is a human penetration test, a scanner-led assessment, a PTaaS program, continuous testing, or a red-team exercise. A scanner finds known weaknesses at scale, but only a human tester validates exploitability, authorization, and business logic; see DeepStrike’s comparison of manual versus automated penetration testing. PTaaS is a delivery model, not a depth guarantee: in this list, Outpost24 combines PTaaS with its exposure management platform, so ask how much of the work is human-led. A red-team service tests detection and response against an objective; for Swedish financial entities it is also distinct from a DORA TLPT or TIBER-SE test, which Finansinspektionen and the Riksbank govern. If your environment changes frequently, continuous penetration testing may be operationally useful, but recurring cadence does not remove the need to inspect methodology and tester quality.
Request the names or profiles of the people expected to perform the work, their relevant experience, and which parts of the engagement may be subcontracted. Certifications can be supporting evidence, but they should not replace direct questions about the tester’s experience with your technology and threat model.
The statement of work should define authorization, target boundaries, testing windows, excluded techniques, stop conditions, escalation contacts, handling of production data, credential use, denial-of-service restrictions, social-engineering boundaries, and incident procedures. NIST SP 800-115 provides a useful reference for structured technical-security testing and assessment planning.
Ask for a redacted sample report. It should separate executive and technical audiences, show reproducible evidence where appropriate, explain business context, prioritize remediation, and make it possible for engineers to act. A long vulnerability list is not automatically a good penetration-test deliverable.
Do not assume a retest is included. Clarify how many remediation-validation cycles are covered, the time window, whether new findings discovered during retesting are handled, and whether the final report shows verification status. This becomes especially important when the output supports audit or customer assurance.
This section is general information, not legal advice. Applicability depends on the entity, system, activity, contract, and regulator. The status below uses primary-source research current to August 10, 2026, with the NCSC timetable and the authority and procurement notes rechecked on November 3, 2026, and should be rechecked immediately before reliance.
Sweden’s Cybersäkerhetslag (2025:1506) entered into force on January 15, 2026. The law implements Sweden’s NIS2 framework and requires covered entities to manage cybersecurity risk systematically. The Swedish statute and NCSC guidance should be the starting points for applicability.
NCSC’s published implementation timetable states that incident and information regulations took effect on July 1, 2026. It also states that regulations on security measures and leadership training, plus rules concerning security audits and security scanning, took effect on October 1, 2026, completing Sweden's NIS2 implementation. Organizations should therefore review the current NCSC timetable and scope guidance rather than rely on a static summary.
Neither this article nor the source baseline treats the Swedish Cybersecurity Act or NIS2 as an automatic rule that every covered entity must buy an external full-scope penetration test on a fixed schedule. Security testing can be part of risk-based technical validation, but the exact required measure depends on the applicable provision and circumstances.
The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) contains specific threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) requirements in Articles 26–27 for financial entities identified under the applicable framework. The controlling sources are the DORA text and the TLPT regulatory technical standards in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1190.
Do not equate DORA TLPT with a standard web, API, cloud, or infrastructure pentest. TLPT has its own applicability, scope, threat-intelligence, tester, control, and governance requirements. Not every Swedish financial organization should assume that it is automatically subject to TLPT; the entity must determine applicability under the current framework and competent-authority guidance.
GDPR Article 32 includes a requirement, where appropriate, for a process to regularly test, assess, and evaluate the effectiveness of technical and organizational measures. It does not say that every controller or processor must purchase a penetration test. A pentest can be useful evidence in a risk-based security program, but it does not itself prove GDPR compliance, eliminate liability, or prevent enforcement.
For environments in scope for PCI DSS, Requirement 11.4 contains penetration-testing requirements for applicable internal and external environments and related conditions. Buyers should use the current PCI SSC document library to verify exact scope, segmentation, significant-change, service-provider, methodology, and retesting requirements. Reducing PCI DSS to “one annual external test” is incomplete.
ISO/IEC 27001:2022 does not universally state that every certified organization must run a penetration test. Security testing may support risk treatment, vulnerability management, and assurance evidence, but applicability depends on the organization’s risks, controls, and management system. Do not reuse the legacy Annex A.12.6.1 numbering as if it were the current 2022 control structure; current vulnerability-management discussions commonly reference Annex A control 8.8 where relevant. Use the current ISO source or licensed standard text for exact wording.
Since July 1, 2026, Sweden's national CSIRT, CERT-SE, has operated within the National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) at the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) and receives incident reports under the cybersecurity legislation, according to NCSC's announcement of the transfer. Supervision under the Cybersecurity Act is split across sector authorities rather than one regulator, so confirm which authority covers your entity. In finance, Finansinspektionen decides which entities must carry out DORA TLPT, while the Riksbank runs TIBER-SE, coordinates threat-led tests for certain systemically important firms, issues a certificate after each test, and allows voluntary TIBER-SE tests, according to its TIBER and DORA TLPT page (updated October 21, 2026). Personal-data breaches uncovered during testing fall under the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY).
Public-sector buyers procure testing under the Public Procurement Act (LOU, 2016:1145). If the work gives a supplier access to security-sensitive activities or classified information, the Protective Security Act (2018:585) can require a security protection agreement (säkerhetsskyddsavtal) with the supplier and any subcontractors, notified to the Swedish Security Service; see Säpo's guidance on security protection agreements and Upphandlingsmyndigheten's guide to security-protected procurement. Foreign suppliers can receive classified information only where Sweden has an applicable security agreement with their country and the supplier holds a security clearance certificate. In practice, these rules can favor Swedish providers with cleared staff, which is why Sweden-based testers, Swedish jurisdiction for reports, and total defence experience appear as differentiators in the profiles above.
There is no defensible reason to invent a single “Swedish penetration-testing price” for this comparison. Quotes vary primarily with the work being authorized and the evidence required.
Scope drives effort everywhere: asset count and complexity, authenticated roles, test types (web, API, mobile, network, cloud, social engineering, red team), manual exploit-validation depth, testing windows, reporting depth, and retest cycles. In Sweden, these factors most often change the shortlist, the timeline, and the quote:
Use a detailed statement of work and compare like-for-like scope. A general penetration testing cost guide can help identify cost variables, but the procurement decision should be based on the actual environment and deliverables rather than a headline market average.
| Evidence | Why it matters | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Named delivery team | Marketing claims do not identify who performs your test | Who are the primary testers and what relevant experience do they have? |
| Methodology | Distinguishes real testing from a scanner-only exercise | Which phases are automated, which are human-led, and how is exploit validation controlled? |
| Redacted report sample | Reporting quality varies materially | Can we see both executive and technical output, evidence, remediation detail, and verification status? |
| Remediation workflow | Findings only create value when teams can fix them | How are questions, tickets, severity disputes, and developer guidance handled? |
| Retest terms | “Included” can mean different things | How many retest cycles, what window, and what happens if a fix is incomplete? |
| Data-handling terms | Test evidence can be sensitive, and GDPR applies to personal data in it | Where are credentials, screenshots, logs, exploit evidence, and reports stored (in Sweden, the EU/EEA, or elsewhere), and when are they deleted? |
| Subcontractor disclosure | Affects data, assurance, and delivery accountability | Who may perform testing outside the named provider team? |
| Local-delivery evidence | “Sweden page” does not prove local execution | Which legal entity contracts, where are testers located, and can work be on-site/in Swedish if needed? |
| Security protection readiness | Required when testers reach security-sensitive activities under the Protective Security Act (2018:585) | Can the provider sign a säkerhetsskyddsavtal, and can assigned testers and subcontractors be security-cleared? |
| TIBER-SE or TLPT experience (financial entities) | Finansinspektionen decides which entities must run TLPT; the Riksbank runs TIBER-SE | Has the provider delivered TIBER-SE or TIBER-EU red-team tests, and who would lead the work? |
| Regulatory mapping | Useful when evidence supports an audit or sector requirement | Which exact Cybersäkerhetslag, DORA, GDPR, or PCI DSS requirement does the deliverable support, and what does it not prove? |
| References appropriate to scope | Helps validate fit | Can the provider supply a relevant reference subject to confidentiality constraints? |
There is no universal best provider. DeepStrike is listed first in this DeepStrike-published editorial comparison, while Truesec, Outpost24, Orange Cyberdefense Sweden, Knowit, CyberStrike AB, eBuilder Security, Cyloq, and Basalt each fit different procurement conditions. The right shortlist depends on technical scope, human testing depth, assigned testers, local requirements, reporting, remediation, retesting, data handling, and contracting constraints.
Choose based on constraints and evidence. A local provider may simplify contracting, language, on-site work, or public procurement, while a cross-border specialist may fit a remote application, API, cloud, or advanced technical scope. Verify the actual tester location and data handling rather than using headquarters as a proxy for either technical quality or regulatory suitability.
Vulnerability scanning is primarily automated discovery. Penetration testing adds authorized human judgment and controlled exploitation to determine whether weaknesses are actually exploitable, how they combine, and what the practical impact is. Scanners are useful tools, but a scanner report should not be represented as equivalent to a full human-led pentest.
The Cybersäkerhetslag (2025:1506) requires risk-based cybersecurity measures for covered entities, but it should not be summarized as a universal rule requiring every covered organization to buy an external penetration test on a fixed schedule. NCSC’s current rules and guidance, the entity’s classification, and its risk profile must be reviewed. This is not legal advice.
No. DORA establishes TLPT requirements for financial entities identified under the applicable framework; it should not be generalized to every financial company or every DORA-regulated entity. TLPT is also a distinct exercise from a normal web, API, cloud, or infrastructure penetration test.
Cost depends on asset count and complexity, authenticated roles, cloud/API/mobile/network scope, testing depth, safety restrictions, reporting, remediation, retesting, on-site requirements, and delivery model. This comparison does not invent a national price range. Ask multiple providers to quote the same written scope so that price comparisons are meaningful.
A useful statement of work should define authorization, in-scope and excluded systems, testing windows, accounts and roles, permitted techniques, stop conditions, escalation paths, evidence handling, reporting, remediation support, retesting, data retention, subcontracting, and required compliance or procurement outputs. The final rules of engagement should be explicit enough that both the tester and system owner understand the safety boundaries.
The strongest penetration-testing shortlist for a Swedish organization is the one that matches the actual technical scope and procurement constraints. Separate location from delivery evidence, separate scanning from human-led testing, and require proof about the assigned team, methodology, reporting, remediation, retesting, and data handling. Regulatory frameworks can shape the engagement, but they should be mapped precisely rather than used as generic sales claims.
DeepStrike is listed first in this DeepStrike-published comparison. If its cross-border, human-led model fits your requirements, review the current DeepStrike penetration testing service and compare the proposed scope against the same evidence checklist used above.
Mohammed Khalil is a Cybersecurity Architect at DeepStrike, specializing in advanced penetration testing and offensive security operations. With certifications including CISSP, OSCP, and OSWE, he has led numerous red team engagements for Fortune 500 companies, focusing on cloud security, application vulnerabilities, and adversary emulation. His work involves dissecting complex attack chains and developing resilient defense strategies for clients in the finance, healthcare, and technology sectors.

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