AI / LLM Penetration Testing
Specialist AI & LLM penetration testing for secure, confident AI adoption.
AI systems fail in ways traditional software doesn’t. Our experienced security consultants test your LLM applications, agents and AI-connected systems the way a real attacker would. The result is clear, evidenced findings that show how your system can really be attacked.
AI / LLM Test Overview
What Is AI & LLM Penetration Testing?
Organisations are adopting AI models faster than their security practices are evolving. LLMs now sit inside customer-facing chatbots, internal assistants and autonomous agents, often connected to sensitive data and business systems. That pace of adoption brings new security challenges, from models that can be manipulated through language to AI features that are given more access than they need.
AI and LLM penetration testing is a structured, adversarial assessment of applications built on large language models. It shows how your system can be manipulated, misused or abused, and what an attacker could reach as a result. We test the whole system, including the prompts, data, tools and permissions around the model, rather than the model alone.
The sections below explain why AI systems need specialist testing, what we cover, how it maps to recognised frameworks and how each engagement runs.
Specialist AI / LLM Testing
Why AI and LLM Systems Need Specialist Penetration Testing
Language models don’t behave like conventional software. They interpret instructions rather than execute fixed logic, which creates risks that standard application testing wasn’t built to find.
Traditional testing doesn't cover how language models fail
Web and API testing looks for flaws in code and configuration. AI applications can be manipulated through language itself. Prompt injection, jailbreaking and instruction hijacking exploit how a model interprets context, so they need testers who understand model behaviour, not just request and response handling.
Risk extends well beyond the AI / LLM model
Most real-world exposure comes from what the model is connected to: retrieval pipelines, plugins, internal APIs, databases and autonomous agents. A manipulated model with excessive permissions can leak sensitive data, call tools it shouldn't, or take actions on behalf of an attacker.
Real attack paths take expert, adaptive testing
Known attack patterns only go so far. Our testing is led by experienced security consultants who chain weaknesses, adapt to your system's behaviour and understand business context. Tools support that work, but human expertise sets the depth.
AI / LLM Test Coverage
Benefits of AI and LLM Penetration Testing
Our testing gives you more than a list of findings. It gives you confidence in how your AI systems behave under attack, and the evidence to back it up.
Our Test Process
What Our AI and LLM Penetration Testing Covers
We assess the full attack surface of your AI system, from the model’s behaviour through to the data, tools and integrations around it. Each area is tested manually, with tooling in support.
Prompt Injection & Jailbreaking
Direct and indirect prompt injection, instruction hijacking and jailbreak techniques, including attacks delivered through documents, web content, emails and other data your model ingests.
Data Leakage & RAG Security
Sensitive information disclosure, system prompt leakage, cross-user data exposure, and weaknesses in retrieval-augmented generation, including poisoned or over-permissive knowledge sources.
Agent & Tool Abuse
Excessive agency, unsafe tool calling, privilege escalation through plugins and function calls, and manipulation of autonomous workflows into taking unintended actions.
Model & Supply Chain Risks
Risks from third-party models, fine-tuned weights, datasets, libraries and plugins, including data and model poisoning where relevant to your architecture.
Output Handling & Integrations
How model output is consumed downstream, including injection into browsers, databases, code execution and APIs, as well as the surrounding application, authentication and access controls.
Guardrail & Filter Bypass
Testing of content filters, moderation layers, input and output validation and policy controls, to determine whether they can be evaded and what that exposes.
AI / LLM Frameworks
AI Penetration Testing Aligned to Recognised Security Framework
Our testing is mapped to the frameworks your customers, auditors and security teams already refer to, so findings are easy to evidence and act on.
OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications
Every engagement covers the OWASP LLM Top 10, including prompt injection, sensitive information disclosure, supply chain risk, data and model poisoning, improper output handling, excessive agency and system prompt leakage. Findings are mapped directly to these categories.
MITRE ATLAS
We use MITRE ATLAS to frame adversary tactics and techniques against machine learning systems. This helps us structure realistic attack scenarios and gives your team a shared language for threat modelling and detection.
NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001 and the EU AI Act
Penetration testing provides technical evidence that supports risk management and governance obligations under these frameworks. Our reports can be used to support your assurance work, though testing alone doesn’t confer compliance or certification.
Our Test Process
Our AI Penetration Testing Process
A clear, collaborative process, led by senior consultants from first call to final retest.
Understand Your Requirements
We start by learning how your AI system works, what it connects to, what data it handles and what you need from the test, whether that is launch assurance, customer evidence or a framework requirement. We then agree scope, safe testing boundaries and success criteria.
In-depth testing, led by experts
Experienced consultants lead the testing, designing and adapting attacks as they learn how your system behaves. We chain weaknesses, validate every finding and go beyond known payloads to uncover real attack paths.
Reporting Tailored To Your Organisation
You receive a report written for both executives and engineers: an executive summary, technical detail, step-by-step reproduction, business impact, framework mapping and prioritised remediation advice. No scanner output dumped into a template.
Post-Test Remediation Support
We walk your team through the findings, answer remediation questions and offer retesting to confirm fixes. As your models, prompts and integrations change, we can help you plan further testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
AI and LLM Penetration Testing FAQs
Answers to the questions security teams and buyers ask most often when considering AI and LLM penetration testing.
How is AI / LLM penetration testing different from a traditional penetration test?
Traditional testing targets code, infrastructure and configuration. AI penetration testing also assesses how a model can be manipulated through natural language, and how that manipulation can be used to abuse connected data, tools and workflows. It requires different techniques and different expertise.
Can you test applications built on third-party models like OpenAI or Anthropic?
Yes. We test your implementation, including prompts, guardrails, integrations, data access and permissions, rather than the underlying provider's model. We'll confirm provider terms of use during scoping.
Is your testing automated?
Our consultants design and run the attacks, and tooling supports them with coverage and repeatability. We don't rely on scanners alone, because they miss context-dependent and chained vulnerabilities that only manual testing uncovers.
Do you test AI agents and tool integrations?
Yes. Agents and tool-calling workflows are one of the highest-risk areas, so we test how they can be manipulated into misusing permissions, accessing data or performing unintended actions.
Is it safe to test against production?
We can test in staging or production, depending on your risk appetite. We agree safe testing boundaries, rate limits and escalation contacts during scoping so there are no surprises.
What will we receive at the end of an AI and LLM penetration test?
You receive a tailored report written for both executives and engineers, including an executive summary, technical detail, step-by-step reproduction, business impact, framework mapping and prioritised remediation advice. We also walk your team through the findings and offer retesting to confirm fixes.
Contact Us
Find Out More About Our AI & LLM Penetration Testing
Ready to test your AI systems properly? Get in touch and we’ll help you scope the right engagement.
AI Insights
The Latest Insights From The Pentest Team
The threat landscape doesn’t stand still, and neither do we. Our consultants invest in ongoing security research, CTF competitions, and responsible vulnerability disclosure to stay at the cutting edge of offensive security. The techniques we develop in the lab are the techniques we bring to your engagement.
