What Code White does

Code White GmbH is a privately held German offensive cybersecurity boutique headquartered in Ulm with a secondary office in Mannheim. Founded in 2014, the firm employs between 51 and 100 permanent internal staff — not contractors — and serves enterprise clients worldwide with two core services: the Initial Assessment (INI), a holistic Red Team engagement simulating a real-world cyber attack across the client's full internet footprint; and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), a continuous partnership combining External Attack Surface Management with Proactive Threat Intelligence. INI engagements are explicitly designed to convert into long-term SIS partnerships, embedding Code White's specialists as a sustained offensive capability within the client.

The firm's competitive basis is human expertise: the team reports 388+ years of combined hands-on experience and holds elite offensive security certifications (OSCP, CRTO, OSCE, OSWE, OSEE). Code White also publishes original vulnerability research through a public vulnerability list and a technical blog, with disclosed CVEs and 0-day findings across products including NetSupport Manager, WSUS, Ivanti DSM, MailEnable, SmarterMail, and ABL90 FLEX PLUS, and releases supporting tools on GitHub. Thought-leadership content distributed across Mastodon, LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, and RSS functions as the primary go-to-market mechanism in lieu of named customer logos or disclosed pricing.

Revenue is generated through a mix of project-based professional services (INI) and recurring subscription engagements (SIS), with the SIS layer explicitly positioned to convert one-time red-team assessments into long-duration retainers. The company is privately held with no disclosed venture or private equity backing; ownership appears to be founder/management-led, with David Elze serving as CEO. Markets served are described as global, anchored in the DACH region. There is no public disclosure of revenue, funding history, customer concentration, or pricing.

Name

Code White

Legal name

CODE WHITE GmbH

Website

https://code-white.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Code White GmbH is a German offensive cybersecurity boutique founded in 2014 that provides Red Team Assessments and continuous Attack Surface Management to enterprise clients worldwide from offices in Ulm and Mannheim.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Offensive Cybersecurity Services

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Penetration Testing & Red Teaming (BPAKADAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Attack Surface Management (EASM/CAASM) (HDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Offensive cybersecurity services
• Red team assessments
• Attack surface management
• Security intelligence service
• Penetration testing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ulm

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Red Team Assessment Services: Professional services revenue from Initial Assessment (INI) engagements that simulate real cyber attacks to evaluate client security posture and resilience
2. Security Intelligence Service (SIS): Ongoing continuous support partnerships providing external attack surface management, proactive threat intelligence, and extended security services including penetration tests, product security reviews, and customized training

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CODE WHITE is an offensive cybersecurity boutique that delivers the Initial Assessment (INI), a holistic Red Team engagement simulating real-world cyber attacks across an enterprise's full internet footprint, and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), a continuous partnership combining External Attack Surface Management with Proactive Threat Intelligence. Engagements are performed by permanent, in-house Red Team experts holding elite offensive security certifications, and are scoped to enterprise clients worldwide.

Product overview

Code White is an offensive cybersecurity boutique (not a product company) offering two primary services: the Initial Assessment (INI) for holistic Red Team assessments simulating real cyber attacks, and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) for continuous Attack Surface Management. These services are delivered by technically outstanding, certified Red Team experts who combine offensive security skills with threat intelligence capabilities. The company also publishes its vulnerability research through a Public Vulnerability List and Technical Blog, demonstrating expertise in areas such as deserialization vulnerabilities, authentication bypasses, and remote code execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Initial Assessment (INI) Holistic Red Team engagement that simulates a real cyber attack against an enterprise's complete internet footprint, including phishing, lateral movement, persistence, and data exfiltration, and delivers extensive attack documentation with strategic recommendations to improve resilience against real threat actors.
• Security Intelligence Service (SIS) Continuous Preemptive Exposure Management service for enterprise clients, providing ongoing attack surface surveillance, actionable vulnerability notifications, threat intelligence, and access to specialized services such as Red Team assessments, threat intelligence, penetration tests, product security reviews, and customized training for the duration of the partnership.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients gain transparency about current enterprise vulnerability levels through holistic red team assessments
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• NCC Group: UK-based publicly listed cybersecurity firm offering Red Team assessments, penetration testing, and attack surface management to enterprise clients globally. Most directly comparable in service portfolio and boutique-to-mid-market positioning, with broader geographic scale.
• MDSec: UK-based offensive security research firm offering Red Team engagements, penetration testing, and tool development (e.g., Nighthawk C2). Comparable as a boutique research-led offensive security firm with deep CVE discovery and elite consultant base.
• Bishop Fox: US-based offensive security boutique specializing in Red Team operations, penetration testing, and attack surface management for large enterprises. Closely aligned with Code White on talent-led boutique model and research-driven thought leadership.
• SRLabs: Berlin-based offensive security boutique (acquired by Bosch in 2022) specializing in Red Team, penetration testing, and security research for enterprise and industrial clients. Most direct German/European peer in boutique positioning and research-led offensive services.
• TrustedSec: US-based offensive security consultancy delivering Red Team assessments, penetration testing, and incident response to enterprise clients. Comparable boutique, research-led model with strong community brand (e.g., TrustedSec community editions).

Broad incumbents

• Mandiant (Google Cloud): Global leader in incident response, threat intelligence, and Red Team/Adversary Simulation services, now part of Google Cloud. Competes with Code White for large enterprise red team mandates but operates as a much broader portfolio incumbent.
• Orange Cyberdefense: European cybersecurity services arm of Orange, providing penetration testing, Red Team, and managed detection & response across multiple geographies. Comparable on European enterprise offensive security, but at much larger scale and broader portfolio.
• CrowdStrike Services: CrowdStrike's professional services arm delivers Red Team operations, adversary emulation, and penetration testing as part of its broader endpoint and XDR platform. Overlaps Code White on offensive services but bundles them into a wider platform offering.
• Coalfire: US-based cybersecurity advisory firm offering Red Team, penetration testing, and attack surface management alongside broader compliance and advisory services. Comparable offensive security offerings within a wider consulting portfolio.
• WithSecure (formerly F-Secure): Nordic-headquartered cybersecurity firm with a dedicated offensive security and Red Team services arm serving European enterprises. Comparable on European enterprise offensive security positioning, with broader product portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/codewhitesec
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/code-white-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Code White