Penetration Testing Market Size & Share Analysis - Trends, Drivers, Competitive Landscape, and Forecasts (2024 - 2030)

Penetration Testing Market Trend & Growth Drivers

Adoption of Artificial Intelligence Technology Is Key Trend

• AI-powered penetration testing is being implemented in industries for better test results. AI holds the power to adapt accordingly and analyze the vulnerabilities in the system.
• The integration of AI in the vulnerability assessment and scanning phases of testing helps in better understanding the results of the scans, offering associated information, as well as removing irrelevant data.
• AI assists in maintaining uninterrupted access to the system, while its adaptable nature provides new methods and pathways for the exploitation of the system.
• These abilities of AI help simulate increasingly complex and sophisticated attacks, so that IT departments can stay one step ahead of miscreants, by fortifying their infrastructure with new software accordingly.

Increasing Cybercrime and Safety Concern Drives Market

• The rapid digitalization on a global level has surged the need for companies to secure their data from being breached or stolen, both to protect themselves in the event of an attack and comply with data safety regulations.
• As per the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) report, 1,077,501 phishing attacks were reported in the 4th quarter of 2023 across the world. Moreover, the group mentioned around 5 million phishing attacks in the whole of 2023.
• These concerns lead to the growth of the penetration testing market drastically as companies have been testing their IT infrastructure for any vulnerabilities.
• Governments around the world are concerned over the possibility of their data being breached by hackers. Governmental bodies are at a higher risk of a cyber breach due to the highly sensitive and confidential information they maintain. This is why their efforts to arm their IT infrastructure with software post penetration testing drives the market.

Shortage of Security Analysts and Ethical Hackers Is a Major Challenge

• Penetration testing is majorly dependent on security analysts, who carry out the mock breach of data and analyze the loopholes in the system, for future advancement in the security ecosystem.
• The rapid evolution of the IT sector has rendered many security analysts’ skills obsolete, which has led companies to face a shortage of such personnel.
• The shortage can divert organization toward freelancers or independent ethical hackers with appreciable skills, but this also raises security risks for them. External hackers can have a tendency to breach the system for their own benefit, such as huge sums of money in exchange for the stolen data.

Penetration Testing Industry Outlook

Deployment Mode Insights

• The on-premises bifurcation is dominating the market with 70% revenue in 2024, due to the need for high-level security and direct control over the testing environment.
• The main advantage of on-premises software deployment is the total control over it. This deployment mode enables an organization to take over the ownership of its whole system and enjoy complete privacy over its data. Multinational companies, which have huge volumes of sensitive data and the financial resources to afford onsite IT infrastructure go for this approach.
• A key concern of such organizations these days is data privacy and security, which leads them to pick the on-premise deployment mode.
• The cloud bifurcation is projected to grow at the higher CAGR, of 17.5%, during 2024–2030. This is credited to the different cloud modes companies can choose from, namely public, private, and hybrid, depending on how much control they want over their IT resources.
• Since these models demand different levels of investment, the budget becomes a key criterion for companies when deciding which cloud mode to opt for.

On the basis of deployment mode, the following categories were analyzed:

• On-Premises (Larger Category)
• Cloud (Faster-Growing Category)

Organization Size Insights

• With 75% revenue in 2024, the large enterprises category dominates the market. The domination of large enterprises in the market is because they are generally the first to access advanced technologies because of their financial strength and industry knowledge.
• These companies need strong protection for their vast IT infrastructure, which often houses highly sensitive financial and other data, which is always vulnerable to breaching.
• The small and medium enterprise (SMEs) category is projected to grow at the higher CAGR, of 17.4%, over the forecast period. The market growth in this bifurcation is driven by the surging adoption of the cloud-based deployment mode, which offers affordability and less headache to SMEs.
• According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 117,000 startups were registered in 2020 in Germany, and this number increased to 127,000 in 2021.
• With the increasing risk of cyberattacks, the awareness among SMEs has risen. Due to this, the cloud-based deployment mode is witnessing fast growth in adoption among SMEs.
• Apart from the low cost, SMEs benefit from the anytime, anywhere access, scalability, and secure storage of cloud-based solutions.

The categories analyzed in the segment are listed below:

• Large Enterprises (Larger Category)
• Small and Medium Enterprises (Faster-Growing Category)

Testing Tool Insights

• The vulnerability scanners category is the largest in the market, with 40% revenue in 2024, as well as the fastest-growing. This is because vulnerability scanning tool are automated and able to identify the security vulnerabilities in the IT system and applications.
• Vulnerability scanning tools are cost-effective and perform continuous monitoring, which provides proactive security by identifying and addressing the security weaknesses in the organization, before being exploited by breachers.

The testing tool segment has the following categories:

• Vulnerability Scanners (Largest and Fastest-Growing Category)
• Reconnaissance Tools
• Proxy Tools
• Exploitation Tools
• Post-Exploitation Tools

Breach Level Insights

• The gray box testing category holds the largest share, and it will be the fastest-growing in the market with 17.8% CAGR during 2024–2030. The growth in this category will be due to a surge in the testing of web applications.
• Being cost-efficient and compatible, gray box testing is preferred for testing web applications according to their requirement. Moreover, for complex applications, this procedure offers high accuracy.
• Gray box testing allows organizations to modify the provided information for breaching the system according to them.

The following categories were surveyed in the segment:

• Gray Box (Largest and Fastest-Growing Category)
• Black Box
• White Box

Testing Type Insights

• The fastest-growing category is mobile application with 18.0% CAGR over this decade. The growing trend of the bring your own device (BYOD) policy at workplaces drives the market growth significantly, especially as a consequence of the pandemic.
• The increasing use of personal devices in the office and elsewhere increases the risk of cyberattacks, as almost all mobile phones connect to the internet.
• Mobile applications being a critical component of many businesses and organizations make attackers keen on breaching the sensitive data they contain. This is why mobile applications meant for banking services are the most-targeted category.

The following testing types have been analyzed:

• Mobile Applications (Fastest-Growing Category)
• Web Applications
• Network Infrastructure (Largest Category)
• Cloud
• Social Engineering
• Application Programming Interfaces (API)
• Embedded Devices
• Others

End User Insights

• The BFSI category is the largest, with 35% share in 2024, as the BFSI sector has the highest risk of cyber fraud.
• The BFSI sector deals with money and other financial resources, which makes it a popular target of financial frauds, data breaches, and other cyberattacks. Such events can result in significant financial losses, which can hamper the organization critically and also bring down entire economies in severe cases.
• Regulatory requirements, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) mandate regular penetration testing for organizations in the BSFI industry.

The following categories were analyzed in the segment:

• BFSI (Largest Category)
• Manufacturing
• IT & Telecom
• Healthcare (Fastest-Growing Category)
• Government and Defense
• Energy & Utilities
• Retail & E-Commerce
• Others

North America Contributes Highest Revenue

• North America holds the largest share in the market, of around 50%. This is because of the presence of a large number of tech companies, which seek advanced security measures.
• The region witnesses the constant adoption of innovative technologies, such as IoT, AI, and cloud computing, which drives the risk of cyberattacks and propels the requirement for penetration testing.
• The Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR, of 17.6%. The rapid growth in the adoption of cloud computing and mobile applications drives the market in the region.
• A large number of SMEs in the region are availing penetration testing services with an increase in the risk of cybercrimes due to the vulnerabilities in their computer networks.
• The region is home to a large and growing e-commerce market, with the chances of cyber fraud and extortion increasing with the rising online shopping activities.

The regions and countries analyzed in this report include:

• North America (Largest Regional Market)
  • U.S. (Larger and Faster-Growing Country Market)
  • Canada
• APAC (Fastest-Growing Regional Market)
  • China (Largest Country Market)
  • India (Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Rest of APAC
• Europe
  • Germany (Largest and Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • U.K.
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Rest of Europe
• Latin America (LATAM)
  • Brazil (Largest and Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Mexico
  • Rest of LATAM
• Middle East and Africa (MEA)
  • U.A.E. (Largest and Fastest-Growing Country Market)
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Rest of MEA

Penetration Testing Market Share

The global penetration testing market is highly fragmented, with a huge number of established and new players in the fray. The market is highly competitive with players competing on the basis of the services provided, product features, and price.

The growing trend of the cloud-based deployment mode, BYOD policies, IoT, and AI has led to significant growth of the market. The market might witness consolidation with larger entities acquiring smaller ones to expand their reach and enhance their market position, especially in developing countries.

Penetration Testing Market News

• January 2024, BreachLock Inc. announced its partnership with CheckRed Security to provide continuous validation and security posture management for cloud environments and critical SaaS business applications.
• January 2024, MC2 Security Fund acquired Trustwave Holdings Inc. for an undisclosed price; MC2 and the Chertoff group have decided to run Trustwave as a standalone business.
• In July 2023, Checkmarx created the checkAI plugin for ChatGPT to detect and prevent attacks against ChatGPT-generated code. The plugin enables developers to protect against attacks by malicious open-source packages while working within ChatGPT interfaces.