We’re pleased to share that Maxwell Adams, Penetration Tester at CybaVerse, has successfully passed the CREST Registered Penetration Tester (CRT) exam.
It’s a significant milestone in Maxwell’s development as a penetration tester and another step forward for the technical capability within our growing offensive security team.
Maxwell joined CybaVerse over two years ago as a placement student from the University of Portsmouth and has since become a valued member of the team.
What is the CREST Registered Penetration Tester exam?
The CREST Registered Penetration Tester (CRT) is an internationally recognised certification designed to assess the practical knowledge and technical ability required to carry out penetration testing.
It sits at an intermediate level within CREST’s penetration testing certification pathway and is designed to validate a tester’s ability to identify and assess vulnerabilities across common networks, applications, infrastructure and databases.
Unlike a qualification based purely on theory, the CRT includes a practical assessment where candidates have to demonstrate their ability to work through realistic security testing scenarios using industry tools and techniques.
The assessment covers areas including infrastructure testing, web application security, networks, vulnerability assessment, exploitation and the ability to interpret technical findings. Candidates are tested within a time-pressured environment, requiring them to demonstrate not only technical knowledge, but the ability to apply it effectively.
Why does the CRT matter?
CREST certifications provide an independent benchmark for technical cyber security professionals and are recognised across the industry, by governments and by regulators internationally.
In the UK, the CRT is also recognised by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as the minimum technical standard for CHECK Team Member status. CHECK is the NCSC programme through which approved cyber security companies can provide penetration testing services to UK government departments, public-sector organisations and critical national infrastructure.
Achieving CRT therefore goes further than adding another certification to a CV.
It provides independent validation that a penetration tester can take technical knowledge and apply it in a practical testing environment, identifying vulnerabilities, understanding how they could be exploited and assessing the security of real-world systems and applications.
What does this mean for CybaVerse?
For CybaVerse, Maxwell’s achievement strengthens the depth of expertise within our penetration testing team.
As a CREST-accredited penetration testing company, maintaining high technical standards across our team is an important part of the service we provide. Certifications such as CRT give our customers additional confidence that the people testing their environments have had their skills independently assessed against recognised industry standards.
But the value ultimately comes down to what those skills enable us to do for customers.
Effective penetration testing is about more than running automated scans and producing a list of vulnerabilities. It requires testers who can think like an attacker, understand how individual weaknesses could be combined, determine their real-world impact and turn technical findings into clear, actionable remediation advice.
Continuing to develop that expertise internally helps us deliver deeper testing, stronger technical insight and ultimately better security outcomes for the organisations we work with.
It also supports the wider approach behind CybaOps. Penetration testing shouldn't exist as an isolated annual exercise. Findings need to feed into the wider security operation so organisations can understand what matters, prioritise remediation and track risk through to resolution.
The stronger our testing capability becomes, the stronger that entire process becomes.
Investing in technical expertise
Cyber security changes quickly. New vulnerabilities, technologies, attack paths and techniques constantly change what security teams need to defend against.
That makes continuous technical development essential.
Maxwell’s CRT achievement is another example of the investment we continue to make in the people behind CybaVerse and the expertise supporting our customers.
Most importantly, it is a well-earned achievement for Maxwell personally.
Congratulations, Maxwell.