Re: Application security penetration testing rate

From: Steve Friedl (steve@unixwiz.net)
Date: Wed Dec 07 2005 - 21:56:58 EST


On Wed, Dec 07, 2005 at 04:48:27PM -0600, Josh Perrymon wrote:
> What do you guys think a fair market rate would be in NYC to perform a 3 month application security penetration test ?  The rate I'm looking for is the hourly rate for the pen-tester.
>
> What if the tester was taking a 3-month contract and lives out of state//   What would a fair blended-rate be?

For what it's worth, for this kind of thing a consultant doesn't start
with an hourly rate, he starts (internally) with a *monthly* rate:
figure out how that much of your time is worth to you - or what the
market can bear - and then work backwards from there into an hourly rate.

This honors both the bulk value of purchasing time (to the extent that
it matters), and makes you consider up front the sticker-shock aspect
of the customer engagement.

Steve

---
Stephen J Friedl | Security Consultant | UNIX Wizard | +1 714 544-6561
www.unixwiz.net | Tustin, Calif. USA | Microsoft MVP | steve@unixwiz.net

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