Social Engineering Testing Services in the UK
Real-world phishing, vishing, and physical attack simulations that test your people, not just your perimeter.
- CREST-accredited ethical hackers
- Realistic, scenario-based testing across email, phone, SMS, and on-site
- Clear, jargon-free reporting with prioritised remediation
- Trusted by global brands across regulated industries
Social engineering testing from OmniCyber
Most cyber attacks no longer start with a clever piece of code. They start with a convincing email, a confident phone call, or a stranger walking through reception with a clipboard and a smile. Social engineering is the deliberate manipulation of people to gain access to systems, data, or buildings, and it remains the single most effective tactic used by attackers today.
Our CREST-accredited team designs realistic, ethical attack simulations against your organisation across phishing, voice calls, SMS, and physical access. You get a clear picture of how your people, processes, and policies hold up under pressure, plus a prioritised plan to fix the weak points.
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What Is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a technique used by cybercriminals where psychological manipulation is used to get members of your workforce to click on links and attachments, or divulge sensitive information. In short, social engineering sees your employees coerced into revealing confidential information or coerced into performing adverse actions.
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What To Look Out For
Cybercriminals are adept at creating web pages and emails that look legitimate, in their effort to get people to click on links, open attachments, or share personal or company data. This makes it more difficult to know who and what to trust.
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How To Prevent Social Engineering
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When do you need social engineering testing?
Social engineering testing is most valuable when one or more of the following apply to your organisation.
Compliance certification
You are pursuing or maintaining ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOC 2, or Cyber Essentials Plus.
Awareness training rollout
You have rolled out new training and want to measure whether it changed behaviour.
Rapid growth or hybrid working
You have grown quickly, opened new offices, or shifted to hybrid or fully remote working.
Sensitive data handling
You handle financial, healthcare, or customer data and need to satisfy regulators.
Recent phishing incident
You have suffered a recent phishing incident and want to assess wider exposure.
Red team preparation
You want to test the human attack surface in isolation before a wider red team engagement.
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A six-stage methodology built for clarity and rigour
Every engagement we run follows the same proven process, scaled to your scope and risk appetite.
STAGE 01
Scoping & engagement
Workshop to agree goals, attack vectors, target groups, success criteria, and rules of engagement. Documented in writing before any activity begins.
STAGE 02
Open-source intelligence
Gathering publicly available information about your organisation, employees, and infrastructure, exactly as a real attacker would.
STAGE 03
Pretext development
Designing plausible scenarios tailored to your industry. Realism is what separates a useful test from a tick-box exercise.
STAGE 04
Attack simulation
Executing the agreed scenarios across email, phone, SMS, on-site, or a blended campaign, capturing evidence of every interaction.
STAGE 05
Analysis & reporting
A written report covering executive summary, detailed findings, statistical breakdowns, and prioritised recommendations.
STAGE 06
Debrief & remediation
Live debrief with your team to walk through findings, answer questions, and feed lessons into your security awareness training.
What is CREST-accredited social engineering testing?
CREST is the not-for-profit international body that certifies cyber security testing organisations and individuals against rigorous standards covering technical capability, methodology, ethics, and quality assurance.
When you commission a CREST-accredited social engineering test from OmniCyber, you can be confident that:
- Your testers have proven their technical and ethical competence to an independent body
- The methodology is documented, repeatable, and peer-reviewed
- Your data is handled under strict confidentiality and audit standards
- The deliverables will be accepted by auditors and regulators that recognise CREST
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Our social engineering testing services
Commission a single attack type or a blended programme that hits multiple channels at once.
Phishing simulations
Targeted email campaigns that mimic the lures attackers actually use against your sector.
Spear phishing
Highly tailored phishing aimed at named individuals, using OSINT to make the lure convincing.
Smishing (SMS)
Text message campaigns testing whether staff click suspicious links on the small screen.
Physical engineering
On-site testing such as tailgating, contractor impersonation, and reaching restricted areas.
Pretexting & impersonation
Multi-step scenarios maintaining a persona over several interactions to extract information.
Red team engagements
Social engineering as part of a wider red team test, designed to test detection and response.
Vishing (voice)
Phone-based attacks where testers impersonate IT, suppliers, or auditors to test response under pressure.
USB drop & baiting
Branded or curiosity-baiting USB devices placed around premises to test plug-in behaviour.
Social engineering testing for compliance frameworks
Our social engineering engagements are tailored to the compliance framework you’re working towards, with testing and reporting designed to produce the evidence assessors and auditors actually want to see.
Social engineering testing for multiple industries
Attackers tailor their approach to your industry, and so do we.
Financial services
Healthcare
Retail & e-commerce
Legal & professional
Manufacturing
Technology & SaaS
Education
Public sector
What you receive from a social engineering test
Every engagement ends with a clear, actionable deliverables pack designed for both the boardroom and the security team.
- Executive summary
Board-ready overview with risk ratings and key takeaways.
- Detailed findings
Each scenario, the evidence, and the human or process gap it exposed.
- Statistical breakdown
Click rates, reporting rates, credential capture rates, and time-to-detection.
- Evidence bundle
Anonymised screenshots, call recordings, and visit logs.
- Prioritised remediation plan
Quick wins, medium-term improvements, and longer-term cultural changes.
- Live debrief
A working session with your team to walk through findings and agree next steps.
- Optional retest
A follow-up campaign three to six months later to measure improvement.
What Our Clients Say About Our Services
Organisations across multiple industries trust OmniCyber to deliver professional penetration testing and clear security insights.
“What stands out most is the feedback I hear after introducing others to OmniCyber. They consistently say the team are the best penetration testers they have worked with because they work with you, not just against your systems.”
Global Travel Company
Head of Security
“Your report is the most detailed and practical we have reviewed. The level of clarity and prioritisation made it easy to understand what needed attention.”
Healthcare Industry
DevOps Manager
“The work and interactions (with Louie Augarde in particular) were so impressive we wouldn’t even consider tendering elsewhere at this point.”
UK Registered Charity
IT Infrastructure Manager
Independently accredited. Globally trusted. UK headquartered.
Social engineering testing pricing & quotes
Every engagement is scoped to your organisation, so we do not publish fixed prices. The cost depends on:
- The goals of the test, e.g. compliance evidence, awareness measurement, or red team support
- The attack channels in scope (email, phone, SMS, physical, or blended)
- The number of target users, sites, or scenarios
- The depth of OSINT and pretext development required
- Whether physical access testing is included
- Reporting depth and any debrief or training requirements
- Retest requirements
Frequently Asked Questions
What is social engineering testing?
Social engineering testing is a controlled, ethical exercise where qualified testers try to manipulate your people into giving up access, information, or credentials, exactly as a real attacker would. The goal is to find weaknesses in your human and process defences before someone with bad intent finds them first.
How is it different from a penetration test?
A penetration test focuses on technical vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications. Social engineering testing targets people, processes, and physical access. Both are valuable, and many organisations run them in parallel as part of a wider security programme.
How often should we run social engineering testing?
Most organisations run a baseline test annually, with shorter campaigns every quarter to measure ongoing improvement. After major changes (new offices, mergers, large hires, new systems) it is also worth running an out-of-cycle test.
Is social engineering testing legal?
Yes, when it is properly scoped, authorised in writing, and conducted by accredited professionals. Every OmniCyber engagement begins with a signed scope and rules of engagement, and our testers carry an authorisation letter at all times.
Will employees be named or punished?
No. Our reports identify systemic weaknesses, not individual blame. We strongly recommend pairing testing with a no-blame culture and follow-up training, and we will work with you to make sure findings are framed constructively.
How much does social engineering testing cost?
Costs depend on scope, channels, and depth. Smaller phishing-only campaigns can be relatively quick to deliver, while blended campaigns combining phishing, vishing, and physical access take longer and cost more. We provide a tailored quote within 24 hours of a scoping conversation.
Can you run a test without our employees knowing?
Yes. Most engagements are ‘unannounced’ to the wider workforce, with only a small group of approved stakeholders aware. This produces the most realistic results.