Businesses are advised to carry out an extensive penetration test at least once a year. This not only allows for regular security upgrades and patches to be rolled out but also supports compliance with data security standards, for example, PCI DSS (Payment Cardholder Industry Data Security Standard).
However, testing bi-annually or even quarterly can highlight potential security risks more frequently – and before they become compromised – giving you a more comprehensive overview of your security status.
Penetration testing is designed to highlight specific vulnerabilities in a system or network. So, ideally, pen testing should be conducted on any new additions to the network infrastructure or whenever there has been a significant overhaul to key applications. This is when an environment is at its most vulnerable and weaknesses are most likely to be exposed.