WEBINAR
Join us to explore what 10 years of data tells us about real risks during the State of Pentesting 2025 webinar.
WEBINAR
Join us to explore what 10 years of data tells us about real risks during the State of Pentesting 2025 webinar.
Become a Pentester

Join Our Elite Team of Pentesters

We connect freelance pentesters to customers across the globe. Join our elite community of freelance pentesters, The Cobalt Core, where you can test various applications, grow your network, get paid, and more.

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Why join the Core?

Here are a few reasons why our Core Members love pentesting with Cobalt.
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Connect and grow
  • Meet, connect, and work with security professionals around the world.
  • Develop soft skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, professional writing, teamwork, and management skills.
Learn and earn
  • Test different applications and technologies across various industries.
  • Get paid for your time and energy and overall effort, not per vulnerability.
Engage with flexibility
  • Participate in collaborative pentesting experiences and leave the organizational management of freelancing to our team.
  • Set your capacity and select what types of pentests to participate in and when.
  • Take part in the rewards program, special events, content initiatives, and more.
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Andreea Druga,
Cobalt Core Member
“I am truly grateful to be a part of the Cobalt Core team. I can work alongside highly-skilled security professionals. Each project is different, and I can work with different technologies and industries. The ability to work with the product teams allows for great communication and collaboration. Giving us an outlet to ask questions, get them answered right away, get feedback in real-time, understand what areas are more critical to follow, and the customer is constantly updated with our progress, as well.”
See Their Story
Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Nikhil K Srivastava
Nikhil Srivastava,
Cobalt Core Member
"The best part about being in the Cobalt Core is the environment of mutual knowledge sharing. I enjoy connecting with top pentesters around the world and learning from them and their findings. You can throw out a question in the channel and whoever knows it readily shares their insights to help."
See Their Story
Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Valerio Brussani
Valerio Brussani,
Cobalt Core Member
“I really like being a part of the Cobalt Core because everyone is kind and collaborative, which makes working together easy and fun. Working freelance for Cobalt also gives me the freedom to choose my pentesting schedule. Different types of pentests offered on the Cobalt Platform is another great aspect. With the wide variety of applications, you get the opportunity to try different exploitation techniques and continually learn about new vulnerability scenarios.”
See Their Story

Application Process

Our Core Members go through a rigorous application process. Here we go through each step of the vetting process so you know what to expect.

Stage 1
Application
We receive both inbound applications as well as community and customer referrals. Applications are reviewed by our community team based on tenure, skill and expertise.
Stage 2
Assessment
Once a pentester is selected from the application process they are sent a Cobalt skills assessment to test their technical abilities.
Stage 3
Vettings
After successful completion of the skills assessment, our team will set up a time to interview the candidate as a way to meet face-to-face, and align on community expectations.
Stage 4
VerificationApplication
Once a pentester has passed initial vetting, they will be verified by a third party verification vendor. At this stage, tax documentation will be confirmed and NDAs and Cobalt Terms of Engagement will be signed.
Stage 5
Continuous Evaluation
Core team uses a secure VPN for testing. Their work is always peer reviewed by trusted leads and the core labs team.

Pentesting vs. Bug Bounty

Explore the differences between freelance pentesting and bug bounty career paths

Pentesting and Bug Bounty are both valuable and important in the cybersecurity space. Here we explore the key differences between the two. When it comes to pentesting, communication and collaboration between customers and pentesters are crucial to a successful engagement. 
  • Payment Based on Time and Effort
  • Dedicated scope of work
  • Established time frame
  • Collaboration and Communication
  • Networking Opportunities
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Meet existing core members

Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Stefan Nicula
Stefan Nicula
Certifications & Skills

Masters in IT&C Security, PhD in Information Security. Focus on reverse engineering, exploit development, and fuzzing on Windows.

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Andreea Cristina
Andreea Cristina
Certifications & Skills

OSCP, OSCE, OSWP, ITILv3, ENG 812: Security Code Review

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Saad Nasir
Saad Nasir
Certifications & Skills
OSCP,  PNPT,  CEH,  eJPT,  CySA+,  AWS-SSA, Red Teaming, Web Application, Cloud Security, Mobile Pentest, API Testing
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Apoorva
Apoorva Jois
Certifications & Skills
OSCP, paCSP, CRTP, CEH, API, Web, Network, Cloud Pentesting
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Alexis 270
Alexis Fernández
Certifications & Skills
OSCP, Recon, Web, Infrastructure, Network
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Goonjeta
Goonjeta Malhotra
Certifications & Skills
OSCP, Web, External Network, Internal Network, Web3, Code Reviews
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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Valerio Brussani
Valerio Brussani
Certifications & Skills

OSCP, OSWE, eMAPT, XRY, CyberArk CDE, Tenable TCSCE, Tenable TCNE, Tenable TCSA

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Harsh Bothra
Harsh Bothra
Certifications & Skills

eCPPTv2, eWPTXv2, CEHv10

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Sunil Kande
Sunil Kande
Certifications & skills
Web Application, SecurityiOS Application Security, CEH
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Farid Luhar
Farid Luhar
certifications & skills

Web Application, Infrastructure, Mobile Application, IoT Penetration Testing, Source Code Review, OSCP, OSWE, CREST CPSA, CREST, CRT

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Nikhil K Srivastava
Nikhil K Srivastava
Certifications & Skills

CREST, CEH, ECSA, LPT (Licensed Pentester)

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Alex Moraga
Alex Moraga
Certifications & Skills

Vulnerability Researcher, Web Applications, Mobile App, iOS, Android, Networking, & OSCP

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Jesus Espinoza
Jesus Espinoza
Certifications & Skills

OSCP, OSWP, OSCE, OSWE, GWAPT, GPEN, GXPN, ATRTO

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Juan Pablo Ruffino
Juan Pablo Ruffino
Certifications & Skills

Web, API Security, CEH, & CPHE

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Thrivikram
Thrivikram Gujarathi
certifications & skills
Web Application, API PenTesting, Secure Code Review, Devsecops, Thick client, External Network, Threat Modeling, CEH, CDP, AZ-900
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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Aditya Agrawal
Aditya Agrawal
Certifications & Skills

Web, Mobile Applications, OSINT, External Network Pentest

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Joao Brasio
Joao Brasio
Certifications & Skills

Information Security, Security Research, Vulnerability Research, Exploitation, Web Application Security, Mobile App

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Çlirim Emini
Çlirim Emini
Certifications & Skills

API, Web Application Security, & OSCP

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Manish Rohilla
Manish Rohilla
Certifications & Skills

Web Application Security, Network Security Assessment, OSINT, OSCP, CEH, CHFI, AWS Security Certified

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Nikhil Aswani
Nikhil Aswani
Certifications & Skills

OSCP, CRTE, CREST

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Eduardo Zamorano
Eduardo Zamorano
Certifications & Skills

Red & Blue team, Bug Hunter, CTF playger, PPT, FSWA

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Cobalt-Our Pentesters-Michal Brzezicki
Michal Brzezicki
Certifications & Skills

OSCP, eMAPT, C)PEH, ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor, CBSP

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Want to join the Cobalt Core?