Organizations rely on penetration testing to validate their security and protect digital assets. These assessments not only uncover potential vulnerabilities, but also help verify security controls and satisfy compliance requirements.
When it comes to penetration testing for network and attack surfaces, security leaders have two main options: traditional point-in-time assessments or the newer continuous testing approaches. While both methods serve valuable roles in security programs, they differ in their execution and benefits. This guide breaks down both approaches to help you determine the most effective strategy for protecting your assets. We’ll also look at a combined approach so you can understand the benefits of layering point-in-time assessments and continuous testing.
Point-in-time tests
Point-in-time penetration testing has long been the standard for security assessment, and for good reason. These time-bounded engagements deliver focused, comprehensive security assessments within defined parameters, usually spanning several weeks. Point in time testing generally goes like this:
- First, the testing team and organization align on objectives, timeline, and specific assets to be tested in scoping discussions
- Once the scope is set, pentesters conduct their assessment using a combination of automated tools and manual testing techniques to identify vulnerabilities.
- They validate findings, assess potential impact, and develop a comprehensive report detailing discovered vulnerabilities along with remediation recommendations.
- The engagement concludes with a formal presentation of findings and any necessary remediation support.
Point-in-time testing is essentially snapshotting your asset risk at a given time, after which changes go untested until the next pen test, and for many organizations, this covers their needs.
Continuous penetration testing
For securing the attack surface, however, point-in-time testing may be inadequate – particularly if the surface is in constant flux. Large time gaps between pen tests leave organizations with quickly changing environments or high security needs vulnerable to attacks. Any changes introduced onto the surface area during the time between tests, also known as the window of exploitability (WoE), remain untested and are susceptible to attacks by bad actors. For example, if you do a pen test in February and your next pen test isn’t scheduled until June, attackers have a five month gap to exploit weaknesses in potentially hundreds of unvalidated changes on your attack surface.
Bugcrowd Continuous Attack Surface Pen Testing closes these gaps.
Instead of leaving changes untested for months between assessments, this approach detects and tests new assets as soon as they appear in your environment. Ongoing testing closes the window of exploitability so threat actors have fewer opportunities to prey on untested features. Continuous testing generally follows a structured approach:
- First, testing providers map your assets. External Attack Surface Management (EASM) technology then maps and monitors your entire external attack surface. This technology continuously scans the internet to discover all your public-facing assets, including websites, applications, cloud resources, and other internet-exposed systems.
- Testing providers then run a baseline penetration test to establish your current security posture.
- The EASM platform automatically monitors these assets for changes, such as new deployments, configuration updates, or modifications that could affect security.
- When the EASM identifies changes, an elastic pentester bench is immediately engaged to test these new or modified assets.
The result is an ongoing cycle of discovery, assessment, and validation that maintains pace with your organization’s development. In general, organizations that need more than three pen tests a year benefit from continuous testing, especially those with complex environments, daily deployments, or strict compliance requirements.
How to decide which one is right for you
Both point-in-time and continuous penetration testing serve valuable roles, but when should you utilize each option? Or is a combined approach a better choice for your organization?
For many organizations, point-in-time testing works perfectly for their needs. Some companies and many government groups require pen testing to meet compliance requirements, and in those cases point-in-time testing meets those requirements. Point-in-time tests can also check the box for HIPAA compliance and security certifications like ISO 27001 and SOC 2. If you only need to do two or three pen tests a year or have a fixed security budget, point-in-time testing is generally the most cost-effective solution.
Fast-moving organizations with constantly evolving infrastructure might not be able to tolerate large WoEs, since they can’t leave too many changes unvalidated for too long without negative consequences. In these cases, continuous pen testing offers ongoing coverage without the cost or drawbacks of serial pentesting. Alternatively, newer security teams that need help while ramping up may find having continuous support externally can help them keep their assets safe as they build that expertise internally.
When implementing their testing strategy, organizations should remember that comprehensive security requires a layered approach. Continuous testing alone can’t cover all security testing needs, since it’s limited to network and attack surface. Most organizations benefit from combining different types of testing to ensure complete coverage across their infrastructure. While point-in-time and continuous assessment covers network and attack surface testing, organizations typically need specialized testing for web applications, APIs, IoT devices, cloud configurations, and AI systems.
Solve for both types at Bugcrowd
Whether you are looking for point-in-time testing or non-stop coverage with continuous testing, Bugcrowd has you covered. For continuous testing, we offer Continuous Attack Surface Penetration Testing for complete coverage.
To request a quote for either pen testing option, check out our pricing page.