Continuous penetration testing
Security testing that moves with your organisation
We monitor external exposure as your systems change. When a release, access change or service needs review, a penetration tester assesses the risk, tests where needed and can validate the fix before the next assessment.
Agree the assets, change triggers, communication route and retained capacity that fit your organisation.
Overview
What is continuous penetration testing?
Continuous penetration testing keeps Adversify involved as your systems change. We monitor the external exposure agreed with you, give your team direct access to our testers and assess changes that could affect access, sensitive data or services. Where testing is needed, findings and fix validation stay connected.
This is for you if…
Your organisation changes frequently
New releases, services, suppliers and infrastructure alter the attack surface throughout the year.
Security must keep pace with delivery
Your teams need access to a tester who already understands the environment when a release could affect security.
You need assurance between major tests
Annual testing still matters, but you do not want risk accumulating unseen between scheduled assessments.
New to the term? Penetration testing, defined in our glossary
Why you need it
How do monitoring, testing and assurance work together?
Continuous penetration testing combines visibility of your external attack surface with direct access to experienced testers. When you launch a service, change how users sign in or expose something new, we assess the risk, test where needed and validate agreed fixes. You receive assurance as your environment changes.
Monitor agreed exposure
Track agreed external assets, services, relevant vulnerabilities and detected credential-risk signals.
Test changes that matter
Assess a new service, access control, integration or infrastructure change when it could create new risk.
Validate the outcome
Communicate verified findings, support remediation and confirm that agreed fixes are effective.
Motive
Why does risk build between scheduled penetration tests?
A penetration test is a point-in-time assessment of the systems and controls included in its scope. The picture can change as soon as you release a feature, expose a service, alter cloud access or a credential leaks. Continuous testing helps you find and assess that new risk sooner.
Monitoring can show that something has changed, but it cannot decide what an attacker could do with it or how much it matters to your organisation. A penetration tester reviews the affected systems and likely attack paths, then recommends advice, focused testing or a wider assessment.
A release changes access
Authentication, authorisation, payment or sensitive workflows are altered.
New exposure appears
A domain, service, application or administrative interface becomes internet facing.
Systems become connected
Cloud, supplier, acquisition or network changes can connect previously separate systems.
A risk signal is detected
A relevant vulnerability or credential leak warrants human review.
Reach
What happens when your environment changes?
When your team is planning a release, changing access controls or introducing a new service, you can bring us in early. Monitoring may also identify new exposure that needs attention. A tester reviews the risk and advises on the right response, carrying out focused testing where needed and validating agreed fixes afterwards.
Change
A change or new exposure is raised
Your team tells us about a release or change, or monitoring identifies new external exposure or a risk signal.
Yields a clear reason to review the risk
Triage
A tester assesses the likely attack path
The tester considers what changed, what an attacker could reach and whether testing is needed.
Yields the right testing depth and priority
Test
The affected attack surface is tested
Focused human testing is carried out within the agreed scope, authority and retained capacity.
Yields verified findings while change is manageable
Validation
Agreed fixes are validated and recorded
The client remediates the finding and Adversify checks the agreed fix within the retainer entitlement.
Yields evidence that the issue was addressed
In practice
Tell us when you are planning a release, changing login or permissions, launching a service, connecting a supplier or changing cloud or network access. Monitoring may also uncover new external exposure or a credential leak. Because the scope is already agreed, we can assess the risk without starting from scratch.
Some changes only need advice. Others need focused testing to find out whether they create a route to sensitive systems or data. The tester recommends the right level of work and uses the capacity agreed with you. Where included, we validate the fix and record the result.
Methodology
How continuous penetration testing works
The service starts with an agreed scope, contact route and test capacity. Monitoring, testing and fix validation sit in one record. Regular reviews show how your exposure is changing, find recurring weaknesses and set the priorities for the next period.
Baseline and onboard
We agree the assets, owners, testing authority, communication route and normal external exposure. Together we define the types of change that should trigger review and the retained testing capacity available. This creates a useful starting point without assuming a full baseline penetration test is always required.
- Scope
- Authority
- Triggers
Monitor and notify
We monitor the agreed external attack surface and subscribed risk signals. Your team also tells us about planned releases and security changes through the agreed route. Additions, removals and meaningful exposure changes are recorded so both detected and client-notified changes enter the same assurance process.
- Exposure
- Change
- Notification
Triage and test
A penetration tester assesses the change, the likely attack paths and the appropriate testing depth. Minor changes may receive advice. Where testing is required, we assess the affected functionality, application, API, infrastructure or environment within the agreed scope, authority and retained capacity.
- Triage
- Attack paths
- Human testing
Fix, validate and review
Findings are communicated with evidence, impact and practical remediation guidance. Your team makes the change and we validate agreed fixes within the retainer entitlement. The result is recorded, while periodic reviews bring together exposure changes, testing work, recurring themes and priorities.
- Remediation
- Validation
- Trends
Coverage
What can continuous penetration testing cover?
Coverage follows your changing attack surface and delivery model. External assets and subscribed risk signals are monitored at an agreed cadence. Human testing can then focus on applications, APIs, mobile, infrastructure, cloud, identity or internal change where the retained scope and testing authority permit it.
External exposure monitoring
Agreed domains, subdomains, IP ranges, ports, services, certificates and new internet-facing assets.
Vulnerability and credential signals
Relevant vulnerability exposure and detected credential-risk signals assessed by a tester before action.
Application and API changes
New releases and changes to authentication, authorisation, payments or sensitive workflows.
Mobile application changes
New or changed iOS and Android functionality, device controls and connected APIs where agreed.
Infrastructure, cloud and identity
New or changed external infrastructure, cloud services, identity controls or internal environments.
Fix validation and reporting
Agreed findings retested, closure evidence recorded and recurring themes reviewed over time.
Exact assets, signal sources, testing targets, cadence and retained capacity are agreed during scoping.
What you get
What you receive from continuous security assurance
You receive human-verified notifications for urgent exposure, clear findings from focused testing and evidence of the action taken. Agreed fixes can be validated while the change is still familiar. Periodic reporting brings exposure, testing activity, outstanding risk and recurring themes into one assurance record.
You receive
Human-verified notifications
Urgent, material exposure raised through the communication route agreed at scoping.
Findings with evidence
Clear impact, severity and practical remediation guidance from each focused testing event.
A testing record
A summary of the scope, work and result for each change that requires focused testing.
Fix validation
Retest status and closure evidence for agreed findings within the retained entitlement.
Periodic assurance reporting
Exposure changes, testing activity, outstanding risk, recurring themes and recommended priorities.
What changes
- Testing follows important changes, not only the annual calendar
- Monitoring signals are reviewed by a tester before action
- Agreed fixes are validated while the context is fresh
- Trends inform future testing scope and security priorities
Questions
Continuous penetration testing questions
Before work starts, we agree the assets, key triggers, contact route and retained capacity. We also record how the service will work. Annual or compliance testing can still continue where needed when you want broader assurance across your wider estate.
Not answered here? Ask it on the scoping call
What does continuous penetration testing mean?
Monitoring of the agreed external exposure is ongoing or runs at the cadence agreed during scoping. Human penetration testing is not nonstop. It is triggered when a release, access change, new service or risk signal meets one of the triggers agreed at scoping. Testing is carried out within the retained scope, authority and capacity.
Does this replace our annual penetration test?
It closes the assurance gap between larger assessments, but it does not automatically replace a broad annual test, certification requirement or compliance-driven assessment. The right combination depends on the depth of assurance you need, the environments covered by the retainer and the changes made during the year.
How do we submit a change for review?
During onboarding, we agree a practical route between your delivery or security team and Adversify. You use that route to describe a planned change, the affected systems and the intended release. The supported channel, information required and expected lead time are recorded in the service agreement.
What changes trigger human testing?
We agree practical triggers during onboarding. Typical examples include a new internet-facing system, changes to authentication, permissions or payments, a workflow that handles sensitive data, a new supplier connection, or changes to cloud, identity and network access. A tester reviews each case because some changes need advice rather than a test.
How do retained capacity and fix validation work?
The service agreement defines the retained testing capacity, what work can draw on it and any boundaries. Focused testing is scheduled within that entitlement. Validation of agreed fixes is included where specified, with the result recorded as closure evidence. Additional or broader work is scoped separately.
What happens next?
Build continuous testing around the way you change
Tell us what changes most often and where earlier security testing would help. A penetration tester will work with you to define the assets, change triggers, communication route, testing authority and retained capacity. Your proposal will set out the monitoring, testing, validation and reporting included.
- Monitoring and testing scope agreed before work starts
- Experienced testers already understand your environment
- Retained capacity and validation defined in writing
Bring your delivery roadmap or recent test scope, and we will identify useful triggers for review.