How Much Does Penetration Testing Cost in UAE? (2025 Pricing Guide)

Penetration testing in the UAE costs between AED 7,000 and AED 120,000+ depending on scope, type, and depth of engagement. A web application pentest for a single application starts at AED 7,000–20,000. A full network infrastructure test covering 200+ IPs runs AED 20,000–55,000. A comprehensive red team engagement can reach AED 45,000–120,000 or more. This guide breaks down pricing by test type, explains what drives cost, and helps you evaluate quotes from UAE security providers.

Updated: June 2025. Pricing reflects current market rates for professional penetration testing services in Dubai and the wider UAE.

2025 Penetration Testing Pricing Table — UAE (AED)

Test Type	Scope	Price Range (AED)	Typical Duration
Web Application Pentest	Single application, 30–50 features/endpoints	7,000 – 20,000	5–10 business days
Network Infrastructure Pentest (External)	Up to 50 IP addresses	12,000 – 28,000	5–8 business days
Network Infrastructure Pentest (Internal + External)	200+ IP addresses	20,000 – 55,000	10–15 business days
Cloud Pentest (AWS or Azure)	Single cloud account/tenant	15,000 – 35,000	7–12 business days
Mobile Application Pentest	iOS or Android application	10,000 – 25,000	5–8 business days
API Security Testing	REST, GraphQL, or SOAP API	8,000 – 20,000	4–7 business days
Red Team Assessment	Full-scope adversary simulation	45,000 – 120,000+	8–12 weeks

All pricing is indicative. Final quotes depend on scope specifics — number of features, IP ranges, authentication complexity, and required compliance framework mapping. VAT at 5% is additional.

Web Application Penetration Testing Cost in UAE

Web application penetration testing is the most commonly purchased pentest type in the UAE and covers OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, authentication and authorisation weaknesses, business logic flaws, and API security issues within a defined web application.

AED 7,000 – 12,000: Smaller applications with fewer than 30 features, authenticated and unauthenticated testing, OWASP Top 10 coverage, grey-box methodology (credentials provided). Suitable for startups, SMEs, and single-purpose web applications.

AED 12,000 – 20,000: Medium-complexity applications with 30–50 features, multiple user roles, payment integration, third-party API integrations, and a full manual testing approach beyond automated scanning. Typically required for PCI DSS-scoped applications, DESC ISR-regulated platforms, or SaaS products handling UAE customer data.

What is included: Reconnaissance, automated scanning, manual exploitation, business logic testing, authenticated and unauthenticated testing, CVSS-scored findings report, executive summary, and remediation guidance. Retesting of critical and high-severity findings within 30 days is included by responsible providers.

Network Infrastructure Penetration Testing Cost in UAE

Network penetration testing targets your external internet-facing infrastructure (external network pentest) or combines external and internal assessment via on-site access or a network drop point (internal + external pentest).

External network pentest (up to 50 IPs) — AED 12,000 – 28,000: Identifies vulnerabilities in externally exposed services — open ports, unpatched services, weak configurations, SSL/TLS issues, and exploit attempts against in-scope hosts. Suitable for organisations with a defined external perimeter (firewalls, load balancers, VPN endpoints, web servers).

Internal + external pentest (200+ IPs) — AED 20,000 – 55,000: Combines external assessment with on-site or VPN-connected internal network testing. Internal testing includes Active Directory enumeration, lateral movement simulation, privilege escalation attempts, and domain compromise scenarios. Required for DESC ISR compliance and recommended annually for any organisation with on-premise infrastructure.

Active Directory (AD) specific testing add-on — AED 8,000 – 18,000: Kerberoasting, AS-REP Roasting, Pass-the-Hash, Pass-the-Ticket, DCSync, BloodHound AD path analysis. Often purchased as a standalone or add-on to an internal network pentest.

Cloud Penetration Testing Cost in UAE (AWS and Azure)

Cloud penetration testing — testing the security of your AWS or Azure environment — is distinct from a cloud security assessment. A cloud security assessment reviews configuration; a cloud pentest actively attempts to exploit misconfigurations and vulnerabilities to achieve unauthorised access, privilege escalation, or data exfiltration within a defined scope.

AED 15,000 – 35,000 for a single cloud account or Azure tenant. This covers:

IAM privilege escalation attempts (exploiting overly permissive policies)
S3 / Azure Storage access control testing
Metadata service (IMDS) exploitation testing
Serverless function (Lambda / Azure Functions) security testing
Container and Kubernetes (EKS / AKS) security testing where in scope
Data exfiltration pathway simulation

Cloud pentests require pre-authorisation from the cloud provider. AWS customers must use the AWS Customer Support Portal to submit a penetration testing request; Azure customers use the Azure Penetration Testing Rules of Engagement form. eSHIELD manages this process as part of the engagement.

Mobile Application Penetration Testing Cost in UAE

Mobile application penetration testing covers iOS and Android applications and follows the OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS) and OWASP Mobile Top 10.

AED 10,000 – 18,000: Single platform (iOS or Android), grey-box testing (source code or build provided), standard MASVS Level 1 coverage — insecure data storage, improper platform usage, insecure communication, authentication weaknesses, and binary protections.

AED 18,000 – 25,000: Dual platform (iOS and Android), MASVS Level 2 coverage, dynamic analysis with runtime manipulation, API backend testing included, and compliance mapping for financial services or healthcare applications subject to CBUAE or DOH regulations.

API Security Testing Cost in UAE

API security testing is increasingly purchased as a standalone engagement as organisations expand their API surface — REST APIs, GraphQL endpoints, SOAP services, and mobile backend APIs.

AED 8,000 – 20,000 depending on the number of endpoints, authentication complexity, and API documentation availability. Testing covers the OWASP API Security Top 10: broken object-level authorisation (BOLA), broken authentication, excessive data exposure, rate limiting bypass, broken function-level authorisation, and injection vulnerabilities specific to API implementations.

Red Team Assessment Cost in UAE

A red team assessment is a full-scope adversary simulation engagement where the red team attempts to achieve a defined objective — typically domain compromise, access to sensitive data, or demonstrating the ability to disrupt operations — using any combination of technical exploitation, social engineering, and physical access attempts.

AED 45,000 – 120,000+ for a full-scope engagement. Duration is 8–12 weeks. This is not a commodity service — pricing reflects the seniority of engineers required, the breadth of attack vectors tested, and the customised threat intelligence and attack planning that precedes active testing.

Red team assessments are appropriate for organisations with mature security programmes that want to validate their detection and response capabilities, not just their technical controls. They are increasingly expected by regulators in financial services (CBUAE TIBER-UAE framework) and for large infrastructure operators subject to Dubai Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) requirements.

What Factors Drive Penetration Testing Cost Higher?

Number of features, IPs, or endpoints: More scope means more testing time. A web application with 80 features costs more to test than one with 20.

Complexity of authentication and authorisation: Applications with multiple user roles, multi-factor authentication, OAuth flows, and complex authorisation matrices take longer to test thoroughly.

Manual testing depth vs automated scanning only: Responsible penetration testing is primarily manual. Providers who quote very low prices are often delivering automated vulnerability scans repackaged as “penetration tests.” Manual testing of business logic, chained attack scenarios, and exploitation attempts takes significantly longer but finds vulnerabilities that scanners miss.

Testing from an unauthenticated and authenticated perspective: Testing both pre- and post-login doubles the effective scope. Many quotes cover only one perspective.

Compliance framework mapping: Mapping findings to PCI DSS, ISO 27001, DESC ISR, or CBUAE requirements adds effort to the reporting phase but is essential for compliance use cases.

Re-testing included: Professional providers include at least one round of retesting for critical and high findings after remediation. Some providers charge separately for this — confirm upfront.

Report format requirements: An executive summary plus a technical report is standard. Requests for compliance evidence packages, remediation tracking spreadsheets, or integration with GRC platforms add effort.

What Factors Reduce Penetration Testing Cost?

Narrower, well-defined scope: A clearly scoped engagement — specific IP ranges, specific application modules, specific API collections — reduces scoping ambiguity and allows accurate fixed-price quoting.

Grey-box testing (credentials provided): Providing test credentials, API keys, and application documentation reduces reconnaissance time and allows testers to focus on deeper vulnerability discovery rather than spending time on information gathering.

Existing documentation: Architecture diagrams, network topology maps, API documentation, and previous penetration test reports all reduce setup time and improve testing efficiency.

Single compliance framework: If you only need PCI DSS mapping (rather than PCI + ISO 27001 + DESC ISR), the reporting effort is lower.

DESC ISR and Penetration Testing: What Dubai Organisations Must Know

The Dubai Electronic Security Center’s Information Security Regulation (DESC ISR) requires organisations within its regulatory scope to conduct penetration testing as part of their annual vulnerability management programme (Domain 7). This is not optional — DESC ISR-regulated entities must test and produce evidence of testing.

If you are subject to DESC ISR and have not conducted a penetration test in the current calendar year, your compliance programme has a gap. Budget for annual penetration testing as a fixed operational cost, not a discretionary spend. The DESC ISR domain mapping in your pentest report is the evidence your compliance team needs.

PCI DSS and Penetration Testing: Annual Requirement

PCI DSS v4.0 Requirement 11.4 mandates internal and external penetration testing at least annually and after any significant infrastructure or application change. Requirement 11.4.7 specifically requires penetration testing of segmentation controls for organisations relying on network segmentation to reduce their CDE scope.

For UAE merchants and service providers processing card data, penetration testing is a non-negotiable annual budget item. PCI DSS also requires that the penetration test be conducted by a qualified internal resource or a qualified external penetration testing organisation — with credentials and independence verified. eSHIELD provides a qualification statement and tester credentials as part of every PCI DSS-aligned engagement.

How to Evaluate Penetration Testing Quotes in the UAE

When comparing quotes from penetration testing providers in Dubai and the UAE, ask the following questions:

1. Is this a manual penetration test or an automated vulnerability scan? Ask what percentage of testing is manual versus tool-automated. A legitimate penetration test is primarily manual. 2. Who are the individual testers? Ask for tester CVs, certifications (OSCP, CREST CRT, GPEN, CEH), and experience with your specific technology stack. 3. What methodology will you follow? Look for OWASP, PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard), or CREST-aligned methodology documentation. 4. Does retesting of critical and high findings come with the engagement? Confirm this is included in the quoted price. 5. Will the report map to our compliance framework? If you need PCI DSS, DESC ISR, or ISO 27001 mapping, confirm this is included and ask to see a sample report. 6. What is your rules of engagement process? Professional providers issue a detailed Rules of Engagement (RoE) document before testing begins — this protects both parties.

Red flags in cheap penetration testing quotes:

Price significantly below AED 5,000 for any engagement
Deliverable described only as a “vulnerability scan report”
No tester credentials or methodology documentation provided
No rules of engagement process mentioned
Turnaround promised in fewer than 3 business days for any meaningful scope

Frequently Asked Questions

Is penetration testing mandatory in the UAE?

For organisations subject to DESC ISR (Dubai Electronic Security Center regulated entities) and PCI DSS (card data processors), penetration testing is mandatory. CBUAE regulations for licensed financial institutions also require regular security testing. For organisations outside these regulatory scopes, penetration testing is strongly recommended as best practice and is increasingly required by cyber insurance underwriters as a condition of coverage.

How often should we conduct a penetration test in the UAE?

Annually at minimum for all regulated organisations, and after any significant change to applications or infrastructure. PCI DSS Requirement 11.4 specifies annual testing. DESC ISR Domain 7 requires annual vulnerability assessments including penetration testing. Organisations with active development pipelines should consider quarterly web application testing or integrating security testing into their CI/CD pipeline.

Do you provide a remediation service after the penetration test?

eSHIELD provides detailed remediation guidance as part of every penetration test report. For organisations that want hands-on remediation support, we offer a post-pentest remediation retainer. We also provide a free retest of critical and high findings within 30 days of the original test as standard.

What certifications should a penetration tester hold?

Industry-recognised penetration testing certifications include: OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional), CREST CRT (CREST Certified Tester), GPEN (GIAC Penetration Tester), CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker), and eWPT (Web Application Penetration Tester). For UAE organisations requiring compliance-aligned testing, CREST accreditation at the organisation level provides additional assurance of methodology and quality standards.

Can you test our AWS or Azure environment without disrupting production?

Yes. All cloud penetration testing is conducted under an agreed Rules of Engagement document that defines in-scope and out-of-scope targets, prohibited test techniques (such as denial-of-service attacks), and testing windows. We work within your change management process and can schedule testing during low-traffic periods. We also obtain the required cloud provider pre-authorisation (AWS Penetration Testing Policy / Azure Rules of Engagement) before any active testing begins.

Get a Penetration Testing Quote

eSHIELD provides fixed-price penetration testing quotes within 24 hours of receiving scope details. To get an accurate quote, we need: the type of test required, scope details (application URL, IP ranges, API documentation), your compliance requirements, and your preferred timeline.

Call us: +971 585778145 Email: [email protected]

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