Best Penetration Testing Companies in Texas (2026): Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio

The penetration testing companies we recommend for Texas buyers in 2026 are Stingrai, Praetorian, LevelBlue, Weaver and Apollo Information Systems. Stingrai ranks first: it is a CREST-accredited penetration testing service provider at the firm level, rated 5.0 out of 5.0 across 19 Clutch reviews, and it runs Snipe, an autonomous AI agent for web application penetration testing that works alongside its certified penetration testers on every engagement. The four Texas-based firms behind it each publish a Texas street address on their own site and each sells penetration testing as a named service.

Texas stood up its own cyber agency in 2025. The 89th Texas Legislature created the Texas Cyber Command through House Bill 150, signed into law in June 2025, transferring the Department of Information Resources' cybersecurity functions to a new centralized authority headquartered in San Antonio, with US$135 million in initial state investment. The command describes itself as "the state's centralized authority for cybersecurity operations, threat intelligence, incident response, and digital forensics, protecting the people, government, and critical infrastructure of Texas". When a state builds an agency around critical infrastructure defense, its vendors get asked harder questions.

Below is a ranking of the firms serving Texas energy operators, health systems, SaaS companies and state agency suppliers, analyzed by verified Texas presence, testing depth, independent accreditation, fit with TX-RAMP and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, remediation support and pricing transparency. We also include 2026 USD pricing benchmarks and a buyer's checklist.

Penetration Testing Companies in Texas at a Glance (2026)

Texas addresses in rows 2 to 5 are quoted from each firm's own published site content, fetched in September 2026. Founding years appear only where the vendor publishes one.

Best Pentest Companies in Texas: Quick Answers

Which is the best penetration testing company in Texas?

Stingrai is the penetration testing company we recommend first for Texas organizations in 2026. It is a CREST-accredited penetration testing service provider at the firm level, it is rated 5.0 out of 5.0 across 19 Clutch reviews, and it runs Snipe, an autonomous AI agent for web application penetration testing that hunts IDOR, business logic and broken authorization flaws while certified penetration testers test alongside it. Retesting is included in every engagement and package pricing is published openly rather than gated behind a sales call.

What are the top penetration testing firms based in Texas?

Praetorian, LevelBlue, Weaver and Apollo Information Systems are the Texas-based firms we recommend, and each publishes a Texas address alongside a named penetration testing service. Praetorian is the Austin offensive security specialist with the widest scope list, including automotive and AI. LevelBlue runs its global headquarters in Plano and states CREST certification for its SpiderLabs testing team. Weaver, headquartered in Houston since 1950, has the broadest Texas office footprint, covering Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and The Woodlands. Apollo Information Systems works from Dallas and holds a Texas DIR contract, which matters for public sector work.

Do Texas companies legally need a penetration test?

No Texas statute names penetration testing. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act requires a controller to "establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices that are appropriate to the volume and nature of the personal data at issue", which is a reasonableness standard rather than a named control. TX-RAMP gates cloud contracts with state agencies and requires vulnerability reporting, not penetration testing. What forces the purchase in practice is a SOC 2 or PCI DSS audit, a state agency procurement, an enterprise customer's security review, or a cyber insurance renewal.

Why Texas Pentest Demand Is Rising in 2026

Four things shape most Texas buying, and the newest one is an agency rather than a rule.

_Figure 1: What drives Texas penetration testing budgets. Sources: Texas Department of Information Resources, TX-RAMP Program Manual 3.0; Texas Legislature, House Bill 4 (88th Legislature); Texas Cyber Command; Office of the Texas Attorney General._

TX-RAMP gates cloud contracts with the state

TX-RAMP exists because of statute. The TX-RAMP Program Manual 3.0 opens by quoting its authority: Government Code Section 2054.0593 requires the Department of Information Resources to "establish a state risk and authorization management program to provide a standardized approach for security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring of cloud computing services that process the data of a state agency". The same section "mandates that state agencies, as defined by Government Code Section 2054.003(13), must only enter or renew contracts to receive cloud computing services that comply with TX-RAMP requirements beginning January 1, 2022".

Two certification levels apply. Level 2 covers confidential or regulated data in moderate and high impact systems and has been required since 1 January 2022. Level 1 covers public or non-confidential information and low impact systems and has been required since 1 January 2024.

Here is the part buyers get wrong. The TX-RAMP Program Manual does not contain the words "penetration testing" anywhere. What it does require is continuous monitoring: Level 2 certified cloud services "must provide quarterly vulnerability reports of identified vulnerabilities and mitigation activities to DIR through the SPECTRIM Vendor Portal", and Level 1 certified services must provide the same annually. A penetration test is not the control TX-RAMP names. It is the control most vendors use to find the issues those reports have to disclose, and to show a state agency reviewer that the vulnerability program is real.

The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act set the private sector floor

The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act arrived as House Bill 4 of the 88th Legislature. Section 7 of the enrolled bill states plainly: "Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this Act takes effect July 1, 2024", with Section 541.055(e) taking effect on 1 January 2025.

The operative security duty is Section 541.101(a)(2) of the Business and Commerce Code. A controller, "for purposes of protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of personal data, shall establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices that are appropriate to the volume and nature of the personal data at issue".

Section 541.105 adds a documented data protection assessment for targeted advertising, data sales, certain profiling, sensitive data processing and "any processing activities involving personal data that present a heightened risk of harm to consumers". The word "penetration" appears nowhere in the Act. As with the reasonableness standards in other states, what makes a practice reasonable is judged afterwards, against what a comparable organization would have done, and a documented test with reproduction steps and verified remediation is the standard way to show it.

Chapter 521 puts a 30 day clock on the failure

When testing does not happen, Business and Commerce Code Chapter 521 sets the consequence. The Office of the Texas Attorney General states that "Texas law requires businesses and organizations that experience a data breach of system security that affects 250 or more Texans to report that breach to the Office of the Texas Attorney General as soon as practicably possible and no later than 30 days after the discovery of the breach", and that organizations must also notify affected consumers. Since 1 September 2023 all reports must be submitted electronically using the Attorney General's own Data Breach Report form.

Thirty days is not long. The reason a documented test matters here is that it shortens the discovery-to-scoping path: an organization that already knows its attack surface can answer the report's questions about the nature of the breach and the measures taken, rather than starting the inventory during the incident.

Energy, healthcare and the new state cyber agency

Texas' industrial base changes what the scope has to cover. Energy operators run operational technology and industrial control systems that never appear in a web application test. Health systems carry HIPAA obligations on top of state law. Praetorian's own compliance list names FDA, GLBA, HIPAA, NERC and PCI DSS, which is a reasonable map of what a Texas testing engagement is usually asked to support.

The Texas Cyber Command changes the procurement conversation for anyone selling to the state. It stood up with five stated mission pillars, "Prevent, Secure, Protect, Defend, and Educate", and it sits in San Antonio, which its own site describes as hosting "the 2nd largest concentration of cybersecurity expertise in the U.S." Vendors that already hold DIR contracts and can produce current third-party test evidence will move faster through that door than vendors who cannot.

What testing actually finds

Stingrai's State of Penetration Testing 2026 report analyzed 1,206 verified findings across 55 penetration tests. 51 of the 55 tests, or 92.7 percent, surfaced at least one High or Critical finding. Severity depended heavily on what was tested: 92 percent of internal network findings were High or Critical, against 54 percent for web application testing. Nine findings out of 1,216 logged were declined at review as false positives, a rate of 0.74 percent, and the median Critical issue was fixed in 10.5 days.

For a Texas buyer, the second number is the useful one. An organization that only ever tests the public web application leaves the higher-severity half of the estate unexamined, and internal network testing is exactly the scope a utility or a health system risk assessment will point at.

Quick Comparison: Best Pentest Firms in Texas

How We Ranked These Companies

Every firm in this guide had to clear three eligibility gates. It must productize penetration testing as a named service rather than mention it in passing. It must have a verifiable Texas presence, meaning a Texas street address published on its own site, or a stated ability to deliver to Texas buyers. And its core claims must be verifiable on its own website or in a public registry.

Ranking then weighed six criteria:

1. Verified Texas presence, confirmed from a street address on the firm's own site rather than a directory listing or a city landing page.

2. Testing depth and range, specifically which scopes are advertised as named services, including operational technology for energy buyers.

3. Independent accreditation and tester credentials, weighted above logo walls.

4. Fit with TX-RAMP, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act and Chapter 521, including whether the firm covers internal as well as external scopes.

5. Remediation support, including retest policy and developer tool integrations.

6. Pricing transparency, or a fast published quote path.

Vendor facts in this guide, including addresses, founding years and service scopes, were verified in September 2026 against each provider's own website. Claims that could not be reached on at least one verification pass against a named primary source were dropped rather than estimated, which is why several firms that appear on other Texas lists are absent here. Founding years appear only where the vendor publishes one.

1. Stingrai (Top Rated for Texas Buyers)

Stingrai is ranked the best penetration testing company for Texas buyers in 2026 for organizations that need testing evidence a SOC 2 auditor, a state agency security reviewer or an enterprise procurement team will accept. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Toronto, with a London, UK office, it serves Texas clients remotely on both one-time annual engagements and continuous PTaaS programs.

The thing that separates Stingrai from a conventional consultancy is how the engagement is staffed. Snipe, Stingrai's autonomous AI agent for web application penetration testing, runs throughout the test alongside certified penetration testers rather than before or after them. Snipe is built to hunt the classes that generic AI tooling misses: IDOR, business logic flaws and broken authorization. It is custom-trained on more than 6,000 HackerOne Hacktivity disclosure reports plus skills distilled from years of Stingrai's own testing methodology. It performs black-box dynamic testing and white-box source review, generates AutoFix pull requests for what it finds, and can run as a pull-request gating check that blocks vulnerable code from merging. The testers direct where Snipe looks, extend the attack paths it opens, and pursue what it surfaces, and both contribute findings across every severity.

The time difference is one hour. Toronto runs on Eastern Time, so a 9:00 kickoff in Austin, Dallas, Houston or San Antonio is a 10:00 call for the test team, and daily check-ins, triage and debriefs sit inside a normal Central Time working day. Reports and retest results are delivered against Texas business dates.

At a Glance

Why Stingrai Ranks First for Texas

• Firm-level CREST accreditation. An auditor or state agency reviewer asking whether the tester was qualified gets a registry-backed answer, not a resume.

• Both sides of the boundary in one engagement. Internal and external network testing alongside web application testing means one report covers the scope that a Texas health system or utility risk assessment will point at.

• One hour from Central Time. Scoping, kickoff and debrief calls land inside a Texas working day rather than at the end of one.

• Annual and continuous, not one or the other. A Texas scale-up that needs one clean report before an enterprise deal can buy a single scoped engagement. A company shipping weekly can run a continuous program. Both are standard.

• Retesting is included. Fixes get verified inside the same engagement rather than becoming a separate purchase order, which matters when an auditor wants remediation evidence and not just a finding list.

• Published pricing, on the pricing page rather than behind a discovery call.

Pros

• Every finding is manually validated, so the report that reaches your auditor does not carry scanner noise.

• Retesting is included in every engagement rather than sold separately.

• Findings push directly into Jira, GitHub and Slack, so remediation happens where developers already work.

• Package pricing is transparent, which makes budget approval faster at an organization without a dedicated security hire.

Cons

• No Texas office, so buyers who need testers physically on site for a facility walk-through, badge cloning or on-site social engineering should raise travel during scoping.

• Newer brand than the Texas consultancies and national accounting firms, which matters to buyers who weigh name recognition over technical depth.

• Operational technology and industrial control system testing on an energy estate should be scoped explicitly rather than assumed.

Best for: Texas SaaS, fintech, healthcare and state agency supplier organizations that need internal and external testing from a CREST-accredited firm, delivered as either a one-time annual test or a continuous program.

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2. Praetorian

**Praetorian** describes itself on its about page as "an offensive cybersecurity company whose mission is to prevent breaches before they occur". Its published legal notices give the corporate address as Praetorian Security, Inc., 3801 N Capital of Texas Hwy, Ste E240, Unit #3421, Austin, TX 78746, and its terms of service specify that arbitration "shall be conducted in Austin, Texas". It does not publish a founding year, so none is claimed here.

Its penetration testing practice is organized into six named domains: application testing across web, mobile and APIs; cloud assessment across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud including IAM, privilege escalation and Kubernetes; network testing covering the external perimeter, the internal network and Active Directory attacks; AI and machine learning testing covering prompt injection, jailbreaking, data exfiltration and model poisoning; IoT covering embedded systems, firmware and wireless protocol analysis; and automotive covering in-vehicle networks and telematics. The page states compliance coverage for FDA, GLBA, HIPAA, NERC and PCI DSS, and references OWASP, CIS Benchmarks, NIST and ISO or SAE standards. A continuous offering sits alongside the project work.

Pros

• The deepest scope list of any Texas firm. Automotive, IoT and AI testing are named practices, not adjacent claims.

• Genuinely offensive-first. The company positions the whole business around attack simulation rather than treating testing as an audit line item.

• Named compliance coverage including NERC, which is directly relevant to Texas energy operators.

• Continuous exposure platform alongside project testing, so findings have somewhere to live after the report.

Cons

• No address on the contact page. The Austin address appears only in the privacy policy and terms, which slows supplier verification.

• No published firm-level accreditation such as a CREST registry entry, and no published founding year.

• No published pricing. Expect a scoping call before a number.

Best for: Texas technology, energy and product companies that need deep offensive work across scopes most firms do not cover.

3. LevelBlue

**LevelBlue** publishes its global headquarters on its contact page as 6010 West Spring Creek Pkwy, Plano, TX 75024. It does not publish a founding year on that page.

Its penetration testing service is described as "an end-to-end solution that leverages a team of experts to identify, prioritize, and eradicate weaknesses in your environment", covering infrastructure, applications, systems and endpoints across IT, OT and IoT, physical and human security domains. Named options include network security testing, application and product security testing, vulnerability scanning across network, application and database, red, purple and tiger team exercises, operational technology environment assessments, and Azure and security configuration testing. On accreditation the page is specific: "LevelBlue SpiderLabs is CREST-certified for both Penetration Testing and Simulated Targeted Attack & Response (STAR) Penetration Testing." It states a global team of more than 1,000 consultants, threat hunters, incident responders and researchers, delivering more than 2,000 penetration tests annually.

Pros

• A Texas global headquarters at genuine enterprise scale. For a large Texas buyer, the supplier viability question answers itself.

• CREST certification stated for both penetration testing and STAR, which is the strongest published testing credential among the Texas-headquartered firms here.

• Operational technology in the named scope list, which matters for Texas energy, utilities and manufacturing.

• Testing and managed detection from one supplier, so findings can flow into a team already monitoring the estate.

Cons

• Managed security services are the centre of gravity. Confirm which testing team is assigned and what proportion of the work is manual.

• Enterprise commercial shape. A 40-person Texas SaaS company may find the buying process heavier than it needs.

• No published pricing or founding year.

Best for: Large Texas enterprises, especially in energy, utilities and healthcare, that want penetration testing and managed detection from a single Texas-headquartered supplier.

4. Weaver

**Weaver** states on its offices page that it was "Founded in 1950" and is "Headquartered in Houston, Texas", ranked "as the largest independent accounting firm headquartered in the Southwest". Its US office list includes Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and The Woodlands, which is the widest Texas footprint of any firm in this ranking.

Its cybersecurity practice names penetration testing directly: "Penetration testing, often referred to as pen testing, simulates real-world attack scenarios to evaluate how your environment performs under active threat conditions." Around it sit cyber program review, maturity assessments and roadmaps, cyber risk assessments, compliance gap and readiness assessments, cybersecurity audit services, vulnerability assessments, incident response tabletop exercises, social engineering assessments including phishing simulations, cyber due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, and AI risk and governance.

Pros

• Every major Texas metro covered by a real office. For a buyer who wants a local partner in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston or San Antonio, this is the only firm here that offers all of them.

• Seventy-five years of continuous operation. Supplier viability is not a question.

• Testing attached to audit and advisory work, which suits organizations whose testing budget sits inside a compliance program.

• Social engineering and tabletop exercises alongside technical testing, so the human layer is covered in the same relationship.

Cons

• An accounting firm, not an offensive security specialist. For deep application or operational technology work, a testing-first firm will go further.

• No published firm-level testing accreditation such as a CREST registry entry.

• No published pricing.

Best for: Texas organizations that want penetration testing delivered inside an established audit and compliance relationship, with a local office in their own metro.

5. Apollo Information Systems

**Apollo Information Systems**, operating at cyberdefenses.com, publishes offices at 12240 Inwood Rd, Suite 430, Dallas, TX 75244 and in Denver, Colorado. It does not publish a founding year.

Its professional services catalog names "Penetration Testing: External, internal, and web application security testing to identify vulnerabilities" and "Red Team Assessments: Advanced adversarial simulations to test detection and response capabilities", alongside tabletop exercises and synthetic tabletop subscriptions. Managed services and threat intelligence services sit beside the professional services line, and the firm publishes both a Texas DIR contract document and a GSA schedule page. A named election security services practice is unusual and directly relevant to Texas county and state buyers.

Pros

• A Texas DIR contract published on its own site, which shortens state and local government procurement.

• Election security as a named practice, which very few firms carry.

• Internal, external and web application testing plus red team in the same catalog.

• Managed services and threat intelligence alongside testing, useful for smaller public sector teams without their own analysts.

Cons

• Smaller published detail on testing methodology. The catalog entry is a single line, so define scope, methodology and reporting format in the statement of work.

• No published firm-level accreditation, founding year or pricing.

• Public sector centre of gravity, so commercial SaaS buyers may find a testing-first specialist a better fit.

Best for: Texas state agencies, counties, election administrators and public sector suppliers that want testing from a DIR contract holder.

National and Global Platforms Serving Texas

Penetration testing is delivered remotely, so a Texas buyer's shortlist is rarely limited to Texas suppliers. These firms deliver into Texas but are not headquartered here. They are listed alphabetically, not ranked.

What Texas Regulated Buyers Should Put in the Statement of Work

Reading TX-RAMP, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act and Chapter 521 together produces a short, concrete checklist.

1. Cover both directions. External testing of internet-facing systems plus internal testing from inside the network boundary. A perimeter-only scope leaves the higher-severity half of the estate unexamined.

2. Name the operational technology scope separately. For Texas energy, utilities and manufacturing, an IT-only test does not touch the systems a regulator or an insurer will ask about. Say so in the scope, and confirm the firm has done it before.

3. Map findings to your TX-RAMP reporting cycle. Level 2 services owe DIR quarterly vulnerability reports and Level 1 services owe annual ones, so time the test so its findings and remediation status land before the report does.

4. Document tester qualification. Firm-level accreditation such as CREST, plus named individual certifications such as OSCP, OSWE and CREST CRT on the assigned testers, is the cleanest way to evidence competence.

5. Prioritize and remediate on a documented timeline. Severity ratings without owners and dates do not survive a state agency review or a plaintiff's discovery request.

6. Retest, record the outcome and keep the artifacts. Scope documents, methodology, findings with reproduction steps, severity ratings, remediation status and retest results are the package that answers both a TX-RAMP question and a Chapter 521 one.

Buyers scoping this for the first time will find our guide to penetration testing versus vulnerability assessment useful, because TX-RAMP asks for vulnerability reporting and an audit asks for a test, and they are not the same deliverable.

How Much Does a Penetration Test Cost in Texas?

Your city does not change the price. Penetration testing is delivered remotely, so a Houston client's cloud environment is tested the same way an Austin client's is, and national USD bands apply. The genuine regional variables are on-site work and operational technology: a physical security assessment at a substation or a plant floor assessment adds travel, scheduling around production windows, and specialist skills.

_Figure 2: Typical 2026 price spans by engagement type in US dollars. Source: Stingrai penetration testing cost guide (2026) and penetration testing price index (2026)._

Texas Pentest Pricing Benchmarks (2026)

Operational technology and industrial control system assessments are quoted individually and typically sit above the equivalent IT scope, because the work has to be scheduled around production and often runs partly on site.

Stingrai publishes its package pricing openly on the pricing page: an Autonomous Pentest driven by Snipe starts at US$3,000 as a one-time engagement or US$450 per month on a continuous plan for one web application and its APIs, and a Hybrid Pentest that adds certified penetration testers is US$6,800 one-time or US$1,275 per month, with Enterprise scoped on request. The Autonomous tier carries a "No High or Critical Finding = Don't Pay" guarantee. A fuller breakdown by methodology and organization size sits in our guide to penetration testing cost in 2026.

Want a firm number for your scope? Get a free 24-hour quote from Stingrai. No sales-call gatekeeping required.

How to Choose a Penetration Testing Company in Texas

Whether you are an Austin SaaS company, a Houston energy operator, a Dallas health system or a San Antonio state agency supplier, the same six checks separate a useful engagement from an expensive PDF.

1. Check firm-level accreditation, then check the people. CREST accreditation held by the firm answers the qualified-party question an auditor will ask. Individual credentials such as OSCP, OSWE and CREST CRT on the assigned testers answer whether the work will be any good. Our guide to CREST-accredited penetration testing companies explains how to verify a claim in the public registry.

2. Verify the Texas presence yourself. Open the contact page and look for a street address. A provider that genuinely operates in Texas will publish one; a city landing page will not.

3. Scope both sides of the boundary, and name operational technology if you have it. Internal findings skew far more severe, and an IT-only scope will not answer a question about a control network.

4. Insist on manual validation. Automated scanners miss business logic flaws, IDOR and chained exploits, which are the defects behind most reportable breaches. Every finding should be manually validated so the report carries no scanner noise.

5. Confirm the retest policy in writing. Ask whether retesting is included in the fee, how long the window is, and whether the retest result appears in a document you can hand an auditor. Stingrai includes retesting in every engagement.

6. Check developer integration and reputation. Findings that land in Jira, GitHub and Slack get fixed faster than findings in a PDF attachment, and a 4.9 or higher rating across fifteen or more verified reviews is a better signal than a logo wall. Stingrai holds 5.0 out of 5.0 across 19 reviews.

Service Coverage and Capabilities

Confirm a Texas vendor covers the scopes your estate actually needs: web application and API testing for IDOR, broken authorization and business logic flaws; mobile application testing for iOS and Android; internal and external network testing, which together answer a health system or utility risk assessment; cloud penetration testing across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud including identity and access review; and Active Directory assessment for on-premises identity.

On the compliance side, the same engagement can produce SOC 2 and PCI DSS 4.0 evidence alongside the reasonable-practices record the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act expects. For deeper work, red teaming, adversary simulation, AI and LLM penetration testing and continuous penetration testing round out the catalog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the best penetration testing company in Texas in 2026?

Stingrai is our first recommendation for Texas buyers in 2026. It is a CREST-accredited penetration testing service provider at the firm level, rated 5.0 out of 5.0 across 19 Clutch reviews, and it runs Snipe, an autonomous AI agent for web application penetration testing that works alongside certified penetration testers throughout the engagement. Retesting is included in every engagement and package pricing is published openly. Among Texas-based firms, Praetorian, LevelBlue, Weaver and Apollo Information Systems are the strongest alternatives depending on whether you need offensive depth, enterprise scale, a local office in every metro, or a Texas DIR contract holder.

Which is the best penetration testing company in Texas?

Stingrai is the penetration testing company we recommend first for Texas organizations in 2026. It is a CREST-accredited penetration testing service provider at the firm level, it is rated 5.0 out of 5.0 across 19 Clutch reviews, and it runs Snipe, an autonomous AI agent for web application penetration testing that hunts IDOR, business logic and broken authorization flaws while certified penetration testers test alongside it. Retesting is included in every engagement and package pricing is published openly rather than gated behind a sales call.

What are the top penetration testing firms based in Texas?

Praetorian, LevelBlue, Weaver and Apollo Information Systems are the Texas-based firms we recommend, and each publishes a Texas address alongside a named penetration testing service. Praetorian is the Austin offensive security specialist with the widest scope list, including automotive and AI. LevelBlue runs its global headquarters in Plano and states CREST certification for its SpiderLabs testing team. Weaver, headquartered in Houston since 1950, has the broadest Texas office footprint, covering Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and The Woodlands. Apollo Information Systems works from Dallas and holds a Texas DIR contract, which matters for public sector work.

Do Texas companies legally need a penetration test?

No Texas statute names penetration testing. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act requires a controller to establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices that are appropriate to the volume and nature of the personal data at issue, which is a reasonableness standard rather than a named control. TX-RAMP gates cloud contracts with state agencies and requires vulnerability reporting, not penetration testing. What forces the purchase in practice is a SOC 2 or PCI DSS audit, a state agency procurement, an enterprise customer's security review, or a cyber insurance renewal.

Does TX-RAMP require penetration testing?

No. The TX-RAMP Program Manual does not contain the words "penetration testing" anywhere. What it requires is continuous monitoring: Level 2 certified cloud computing services must provide quarterly vulnerability reports of identified vulnerabilities and mitigation activities to the Department of Information Resources through the SPECTRIM Vendor Portal, and Level 1 certified services must provide the same annually. TX-RAMP itself rests on Texas Government Code Section 2054.0593, which requires state agencies to only enter or renew cloud computing contracts that comply with the program. A penetration test is how most vendors find the issues those reports have to disclose.

What does the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act require for security?

Section 541.101(a)(2) of the Business and Commerce Code requires a controller, for purposes of protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of personal data, to establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices that are appropriate to the volume and nature of the personal data at issue. Section 541.105 adds documented data protection assessments for targeted advertising, data sales, certain profiling, sensitive data processing and any activities presenting a heightened risk of harm. The Act took effect on 1 July 2024, with Section 541.055(e) following on 1 January 2025, and it does not name penetration testing.

How fast must a Texas breach be reported?

The Office of the Texas Attorney General states that Texas law requires businesses and organizations that experience a data breach of system security affecting 250 or more Texans to report that breach to the Attorney General as soon as practicably possible and no later than 30 days after the discovery of the breach, and to notify affected consumers as well. Since 1 September 2023 all reports must be submitted electronically using the Attorney General's own Data Breach Report form.

What is the Texas Cyber Command and does it change security buying?

The Texas Cyber Command was established by House Bill 150 of the 89th Texas Legislature, signed into law in June 2025, which transferred the Department of Information Resources' cybersecurity functions to a new centralized authority. It is headquartered in San Antonio, describes itself as the state's centralized authority for cybersecurity operations, threat intelligence, incident response and digital forensics, and was funded with US$135 million in initial state investment. For vendors, the practical effect is that state and local security reviews are getting sharper, and current third-party test evidence moves a procurement faster.

How much does a penetration test cost in Texas?

Roughly US$5,000 to US$100,000 in 2026, depending on scope. A small web application or single API typically runs US$5,000 to US$15,000, a multi-role SaaS application with its API US$15,000 to US$40,000, cloud engagements US$20,000 to US$60,000, internal and external network testing US$20,000 to US$50,000, and red team or adversary simulation US$50,000 to US$100,000. Operational technology assessments are quoted individually and usually sit above the equivalent IT scope. Stingrai publishes fixed package prices from US$3,000 one-time or US$450 per month for one web application and its APIs.

Do I need a Texas based penetration tester?

Only for work that physically requires someone in the building, such as a facility walk-through, badge cloning, on-site social engineering or a plant floor assessment. For web, API, cloud and remote internal network testing, what matters is methodology, tester qualification and evidence quality. Where location does matter for Texas buyers is scheduling: an energy or manufacturing scope often has to run around production windows, which is easier when the test team works your hours.

How often should a Texas company run a penetration test?

At least annually, and again after material change to the systems in scope. That cadence lines up with what a SOC 2 or PCI DSS auditor expects, with what an enterprise customer's security review will ask for, and with the annual or quarterly rhythm of TX-RAMP vulnerability reporting. Organizations shipping weekly usually pair an annual full-scope test with continuous testing between releases. Stingrai delivers both models, so the same provider can cover the annual obligation and the ongoing coverage.

What do penetration tests actually find?

Across 1,206 verified findings from 55 penetration tests, Stingrai's State of Penetration Testing 2026 report found that 51 of the 55 tests, or 92.7 percent, surfaced at least one High or Critical finding. Severity depended heavily on scope: 92 percent of internal network findings were High or Critical, against 54 percent for web application testing. Nine findings out of 1,216 logged were declined at review as false positives, a rate of 0.74 percent, and the median Critical issue was fixed in 10.5 days.

References

1. Texas Department of Information Resources. _TX-RAMP Program Manual 3.0, effective 12.31.23._ https://dir.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/TX-RAMP%20Program%20Manual%203.0%20-%20Effective%2012.31.23.pdf. Government Code Section 2054.0593 authority, the 1 January 2022 Level 2 and 1 January 2024 Level 1 dates, and the quarterly and annual vulnerability reporting requirements through the SPECTRIM Vendor Portal.

2. Texas Legislature. _House Bill 4, 88th Legislature, Regular Session (Texas Data Privacy and Security Act)._ https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/HB00004F.HTM. Section 541.101 controller duties, Section 541.105 data protection assessments, and the Section 7 effective date of 1 July 2024.

3. Office of the Texas Attorney General. _Data Breach Reporting._ https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/data-breach-reporting. The 250-Texan threshold, the 30-day reporting deadline and the electronic reporting requirement effective 1 September 2023.

4. Texas Cyber Command. _About._ https://txcc.texas.gov/. Established by House Bill 150 of the 89th Texas Legislature, signed June 2025, headquartered in San Antonio, with US$135 million in initial state investment.

5. Texas Department of Information Resources. _Cybersecurity functions transition to Texas Cyber Command._ https://dir.texas.gov/news/cybersecurity-functions-transition-texas-cyber-command. Transfer of DIR cybersecurity functions to TXCC under House Bill 150.

6. Praetorian. _Penetration Testing_ and _About Us._ https://www.praetorian.com/penetration-testing/ and https://www.praetorian.com/about-us/. Named testing domains, compliance coverage and the offensive security positioning. Austin corporate address published at https://www.praetorian.com/privacy-policy/.

7. LevelBlue. _Penetration Testing_ and _Contact._ https://www.levelblue.com/services/penetration-testing and https://www.levelblue.com/company/contact. Plano global headquarters address, SpiderLabs CREST certification for Penetration Testing and STAR, and the stated team size and annual test volume.

8. Weaver. _Offices and Locations_ and _Cybersecurity._ https://weaver.com/about/offices-locations/ and https://weaver.com/solutions/advisory-solutions/it-advisory/cybersecurity/. Founded 1950, Houston headquarters, the Texas office list, and the penetration testing service description.

9. Coalfire. _Contact._ https://coalfire.com/contact. Chicago, Illinois mailing address and the office list used for the unranked table.

10. Apollo Information Systems. _Professional Services_ and _Contact._ https://www.cyberdefenses.com/solutions/professional-services and https://www.cyberdefenses.com/contact/. Dallas office address, penetration testing and red team assessment service lines, and the Texas DIR contract.

11. Stingrai. _The State of Penetration Testing 2026._ https://www.stingrai.io/blog/state-of-penetration-testing-2026. 1,206 verified findings across 55 penetration tests, the 92.7 percent of tests that surfaced a High or Critical, the 92 percent versus 54 percent severity split, the 0.74 percent false-positive rate and the 10.5 day median Critical fix.

12. Stingrai. _Penetration Testing Cost 2026._ https://www.stingrai.io/blog/penetration-testing-cost-2026. USD scope bands by engagement type.

13. Stingrai. _Penetration Testing Price Index 2026._ https://www.stingrai.io/blog/penetration-testing-price-index-2026. Published day rates from public-sector rate cards.

14. Stingrai. _Pricing._ https://www.stingrai.io/pricing. Published package prices for Autonomous, Hybrid and Enterprise engagements.

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