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How to hire an ethical hacker the right way
When you hire an ethical hacker, you are trusting an outsider with access to your systems. So the process should earn that trust: written authorisation, a clear scope and a named senior person doing the work.
- Signed written scope first
- Senior ethical hackers only
- Your NDA signed as standard
What to settle before you hire an ethical hacker
Three things come first, because everything else depends on them.
- Authorisation: you own the systems, or hold written permission
- Scope: exactly which systems are in and out
- Confidentiality: an NDA before any technical detail is shared
Who should actually do the testing
Ask for the name of the person who will test, and what they have done before. Many firms sell a senior name but send a junior. By contrast, our senior ethical hackers run the engagement and brief you themselves.
Before you hire an ethical hacker
Tick what you can confirm. Each item speeds up the written scope.
Your result appears here as you tick, so you can see what is still open.
What you get when you hire an ethical hacker
The output should be evidence you can act on, not a scanner printout.
| Deliverable | What it means |
|---|---|
| Written report | Findings with impact and reproducible steps. |
| Personal debrief | The tester explains what they found. |
| Retest | Confirms your fixes worked. |
| Nothing retained | Findings are not kept after delivery. |
Fees when you hire an ethical hacker
Full engagements usually land between $35,000 and $120,000, with a floor of $25,000. The bounded External Exposure Review starts at $4,500, and its fee is credited in full against a full engagement commissioned within ninety days. Every engagement is a fixed fee, so it is never padded by hourly billing.
Requests we decline
We test only systems you own or are authorised to test. Therefore requests to access another person's accounts or devices are declined, whatever the reason. That boundary also protects you as much as us. Our method follows the Penetration Testing Execution Standard.
Questions people ask before they hire an ethical hacker
How long does it take to hire an ethical hacker and start?
Our typical engagement reaches its first validated finding within 48 hours of kickoff, once the scope is signed.
Can we start small?
Yes. The External Exposure Review is a bounded first engagement from $4,500.
Is the work confidential?
Yes. We sign your NDA first and retain nothing after delivery.
Can we hire an ethical hacker for a personal account?
Only for accounts and devices you own, and we decline anything targeting other people.
Related guides
Hire an ethical hacker with a written scope
Send a short brief. We reply with a written scope and a fixed fee, and testing starts only after you sign the authorisation.
Request a written scope