CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cobalt vs NCC Group

Cobalt offers a full suite of offensive security services, from autonomous pentesting to human-led pentesting. NCC Group is a global cyber security and resilience company with over 2000 colleagues around the world. CISO Tribune files both under Penetration testing and red team services. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

Change the companies

Up to four companies side by side.

  • Cobalt
  • NCC Group
Cobalt vs NCC Group: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CobaltCobalt offers a full suite of offensive security services, from autonomous pentesting to human-led pentesting.cobalt.ioNCC GroupNCC Group is a global cyber security and resilience company with over 2000 colleagues around the world.nccgroup.com
What it sells
  • Autonomous Pentest[3][7]Complete pentests in 24 hours with proof of exploit on every finding.
  • Cobalt Sage AI[3][6][7]The intelligence Cobalt says powers every Cobalt pentest.
  • Secure Code Review[8]Human-led analysis of source code to find security vulnerabilities.
  • Internal Network Pentest[10]Testing of internal systems by Cobalt experts.
  • Penetration Testing Services[1]Security assessments that test an organization's systems to find weaknesses.
  • Continuous Penetration Testing[1]Ongoing testing of environments rather than a single point-in-time engagement.
  • Managed Extended Detection & Response (MXDR)[1]A managed service that monitors customer environments and detects and responds to threats, offered for Microsoft and Splunk tooling.
  • Attack Surface Management[1]Continuous monitoring of an organization's external-facing assets from an attacker's perspective.
  • Cyber Incident Response Retainer[1]A retainer service providing digital forensics and incident response support for critical assets.
  • Online Exposure Monitoring[1]Continuous monitoring of the surface, deep and dark web to reduce the risk and impact of cyber attacks.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 5, 2026[5]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[13]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Cobalt sells mainly to security and development teams. Cobalt says customers use it to test critical web applications and APIs in production, AI and LLM-based applications still in development, and globally distributed networks segmented by location and business unit. Cobalt offers centralized management of parent and child organizations. Cobalt says its pentesting helps customers meet audit, regulatory and customer requirements.NCC Group also addresses Hyperscalers and their clients that are undertaking cloud transformation. Industrial organizations facing regulatory complexity across global operations and supply chains are another group it addresses. Its customer examples include a private university and a major professional services client.
Last verified
September 27, 2026November 4, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Penetration testing and red team services is the primary category of both Cobalt and NCC Group.

Where they differ, field by field

  • NCC Group is also filed under Incident response and forensics, MDR and managed SOC and External attack surface management.
  • Cobalt lists Autonomous Pentest, Cobalt Sage AI, Secure Code Review and Internal Network Pentest. NCC Group lists Penetration Testing Services, Continuous Penetration Testing, Managed Extended Detection & Response (MXDR), Attack Surface Management, Cyber Incident Response Retainer and 1 more.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both Cobalt and NCC Group under Penetration testing and red team services as their primary category. Cobalt sells Autonomous Pentest, which it says delivers complete pentests in 24 hours with proof of exploit on every finding, overseen by Cobalt Core pentesters. Cobalt also sells Secure Code Review and Internal Network Pentest. Cobalt sells credits in annual packages, and each Cobalt Credit represents the equivalent of 8 hours of offensive security testing.

NCC Group sells Penetration Testing Services and Continuous Penetration Testing. CISO Tribune also files NCC Group under Incident response and forensics, MDR and managed SOC, and External attack surface management. NCC Group sells Managed Extended Detection & Response (MXDR) for Microsoft and Splunk tooling, a Cyber Incident Response Retainer, Attack Surface Management and Online Exposure Monitoring. NCC Group describes itself as a global cyber security and resilience company with over 2000 colleagues around the world.

Cobalt says its customers use it to test critical web applications and APIs in production, AI and LLM-based applications still in development, and globally distributed networks. NCC Group addresses Hyperscalers and their clients undertaking cloud transformation, and its customer examples include a private university and a major professional services client. For that professional services client, NCC Group cloud experts performed threat modeling and created incident response plans for a Security Operation Center migration. NCC Group was an executive lunch sponsor at the 9th Annual Cybersecurity Summit of Auto-ISAC in Washington, D.C.

What it sells: Cobalt

What Autonomous Pentest does[3][7]
Cobalt Autonomous Pentest is overseen by Cobalt Core pentesters. Cobalt says it delivers complete pentests in 24 hours with proof of exploit on every finding.
What Cobalt Sage AI does[3][6][7]
Cobalt says Cobalt Sage AI is built on 13 years of expertise and informed by thousands of security engagements. Cobalt says it removes reconnaissance, scanning, triage and reporting work so human experts can focus on complex attack paths.
What Secure Code Review does[8]
Secure code review is described as human-led analysis of source code. Cobalt uses SAST and SCA for automated scanning and then manually reviews the output to validate findings.
What Internal Network Pentest does[10]
Cobalt says its experts use network scanning tools, exploit frameworks and manual techniques to find and exploit vulnerabilities in internal systems. Findings appear in real time on the Cobalt platform with remediation guidance.

Questions about Cobalt and NCC Group

What do Cobalt and NCC Group sell?
Cobalt sells Autonomous Pentest, Cobalt Sage AI, Secure Code Review and Internal Network Pentest. NCC Group sells Penetration Testing Services, Continuous Penetration Testing, Managed Extended Detection & Response (MXDR), Attack Surface Management, Cyber Incident Response Retainer and 1 more.
Are Cobalt and NCC Group in the same category?
Yes. Penetration testing and red team services is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Who are Cobalt and NCC Group sold to?
From its own pages, Cobalt sells mainly to security and development teams. NCC Group also addresses Hyperscalers and their clients that are undertaking cloud transformation.

About Cobalt

Cobalt offers a full suite of offensive security services, from autonomous pentesting to human-led pentesting. The Cobalt Offensive Security Platform helps customers move beyond point in time pentesting to a continuous offensive security program.[1][3]

Cobalt says most pentesting programs still operate on an annual cycle. Cobalt describes the gap between how fast risk changes and how often organizations test for it as the exposure adversaries count on.[7]

The Cobalt Platform centralizes access to the full range of security testing services: web app, API, cloud, network, red teaming, AI and LLM, and more. Customers can launch a pentest in hours and get real-time findings. Customers can collaborate directly with testers via the platform, Microsoft Teams or Slack. Cobalt says Cobalt Sage AI powers every Cobalt pentest and is built on 13 years of expertise, informed by thousands of security engagements. Cobalt says Cobalt Sage AI removes the reconnaissance, scanning, triage and reporting work so human experts can focus on complex attack paths and creative scenarios.[1][3][4][7][10]

Cobalt delivers penetration testing across the entire application portfolio to find and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited. Cobalt says network and cloud infrastructure are high-value targets in a constant state of change, and that Cobalt identifies and validates real exposures across the attack surface. Network and cloud testing covers Internal Network Pentest, External Network Pentest, Cloud Pentest and Cloud Configuration Review. Advanced offensive security services from Cobalt test systems against the tactics and techniques of a sophisticated adversary. Cobalt's advanced services include Red Teaming, Digital Risk Assessment and Secure Code Review. Customers use Cobalt to test critical web applications and APIs in production, AI and LLM-based applications still in development, and globally distributed networks segmented by location and business unit. For code review, Cobalt uses SAST and SCA for automated scanning and then reviews the scanner output manually to validate the findings.[3][4][8][10]

Cobalt offers two testing delivery models. Customers can choose one or mix and match depending on assets, environment, release cycles and goals. Human-led testing draws on purpose-built methodologies and 500+ vetted security experts in the Cobalt Core. Cobalt Autonomous Pentest delivers complete pentests in 24 hours with proof of exploit on every finding, overseen by Cobalt Core pentesters. Agentic Penetration Testing as a Service pairs AI-driven automation with human pentesters to deliver continuous offensive security. Cobalt says periodic penetration testing meets compliance deadlines and continuous testing gives coverage in between.[3][4][7]

Cobalt pushes vulnerability data into Jira, GitHub, ServiceNow and more through 50+ integrations. Cobalt offers unlimited retesting with a seven-day SLA. Cobalt offers centralized management of parent and child organizations. Cobalt says its customizable reports are mapped to SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and PCI-DSS. A Cobalt Credit represents the equivalent of 8 hours of offensive security testing. Cobalt sells credits in annual packages that include asset scoping, testing, retesting and platform access. Credits do not roll over into the next contract.[2][3][4][7][9]

Cobalt on the record

Sources

Cobalt full record

  1. [1]cobalt.ioCobalt · cobalt.io · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Cobalt Introduces New AI Capabilities for Continuous PentestingCobalt via Business Wire · businesswire.com · published March 19, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Cobalt: Continuous Offensive Security TestingCobalt · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Cybersecurity Services | CobaltCobalt · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cobalt Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  6. [6]Modern Offensive Security Platform | CobaltCobalt · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Agentic PTaaS: Pentest as a Service | CobaltCobalt · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Secure Code Review Services | CobaltCobalt · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Pentest Pricing & Penetration Testing Costs | CobaltCobalt · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Internal Network Penetration Testing Services | CobaltCobalt · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A

NCC Group full record

  1. [1]nccgroup.comNCC Group · nccgroup.com · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Case Study: Digital Forensics for Tulane University | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]NCC Group | Leading Cyber Security & Managed ServicesNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Reflections from the 2025 Auto-ISAC Cybersecurity Summit | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Penetration Testing Services | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Managed Security Services | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Cloud & Digital Transformation Security Solutions | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Proactive Security | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Operational Technology (OT) Security | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Digital Identity Solutions | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Supply Chain & Third-Party Cyber Risk | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Case Study: Cloud Migration for Professional Services | NCC GroupNCC Group · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]NCC Group Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

Spot a factual error? Request a correction.