{"id":7064,"date":"2026-10-30T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/?p=5024"},"modified":"2026-10-28T12:46:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T12:46:03","slug":"how-often-should-penetration-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/how-often-should-penetration-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Often Should You Do Penetration Testing? A Practical Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least once a year, and after every significant change. That is the honest minimum, and it is what PCI DSS writes into its rules. But &#8220;once a year&#8221; is the floor, not the answer. A company that ships code every day and a company that changes its website twice a year should not test on the same schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This guide gives you the triggers that should start a test, what the main standards require, and a sample schedule you can copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The short answer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Penetration test:<\/strong> at least yearly, plus after significant changes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vulnerability scanning:<\/strong> monthly or quarterly, and continuously for internet-facing systems if you can.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Retest:<\/strong> after you fix the findings from each test, so you have proof the fixes work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1090\" src=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1.jpg\" alt=\"How often to run penetration tests, scans and retests across a year\" class=\"wp-image-7102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1-1024x465.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1-768x349.jpg 768w, https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1-1536x698.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-often-penetration-testing-schedule-1-2048x930.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What counts as a &#8220;significant change&#8221;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the part most schedules get wrong. A test is a snapshot. Every change after it is untested. These changes should trigger a test, or at least a focused one on the part that changed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a new application, API or mobile app going live,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a major release that adds features touching money, permissions or personal data,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a new login method, such as single sign-on or passwordless,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>moving infrastructure, for example to a new cloud provider or region,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a new office, VPN or remote access setup,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>replacing firewalls or changing network segmentation,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a merger or acquisition that connects another company&#8217;s network to yours,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a security incident, once it is contained.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A focused test of one new feature can take two or three days. It is far cheaper than finding out about the flaw from a customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the standards require<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Standard<\/th><th>Penetration test frequency<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>PCI DSS v4<\/td><td>At least once every 12 months and after significant changes, internal and external. Segmentation testing every 12 months, or every 6 months for service providers.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>SOC 2<\/td><td>No fixed rule. Auditors usually expect one test during each audit period.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>ISO\/IEC 27001:2022<\/td><td>No fixed rule. Frequency follows your risk assessment; yearly is the common practice.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>HIPAA<\/td><td>Risk-based today. Changes proposed by HHS in 2025 would require a test at least every 12 months.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>DORA (EU finance)<\/td><td>Systems supporting critical functions tested at least yearly; threat-led tests every 3 years for larger entities.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>India (RBI, SEBI CSCRF)<\/td><td>Periodic VAPT, often yearly or half-yearly depending on the entity, by a CERT-In empanelled auditor.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the detail on each, see our guides to <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/soc-2-penetration-testing\/\">SOC 2<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/pci-dss-penetration-testing-requirements\/\">PCI DSS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/iso-27001-penetration-testing\/\">ISO 27001<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/vapt-requirements-india\/\">VAPT in India<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Match the frequency to how fast you change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Compliance sets the minimum. Your release speed sets the real number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You ship weekly or faster (most SaaS products).<\/strong> Test the whole application yearly, then test major features before or right after they launch. Two or three focused tests a year is common. Add automated scanning to your pipeline so known issues never reach production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You ship monthly or quarterly.<\/strong> A full test yearly, plus a focused test after any release that touches authentication, payments or permissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Your systems rarely change (a brochure website, a stable internal network).<\/strong> Yearly is usually enough, with quarterly scans in between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You handle payments, health records or large volumes of personal data.<\/strong> Test at least twice a year, because the cost of a breach is so much higher. IBM&#8217;s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report put the global average breach at $4.44 million, and India&#8217;s at about \u20b922 crore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A sample yearly schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is a schedule for a typical B2B SaaS company with a web app, an API and a mobile app, preparing for its SOC 2 Type II audit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>January:<\/strong> full penetration test of the web app and API, grey box, with accounts at every role.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>February:<\/strong> fix the findings; retest. The retest report goes into the SOC 2 evidence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Every month:<\/strong> automated vulnerability scans of internet-facing systems; review new criticals within a week.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>April:<\/strong> mobile app penetration test before the new app version ships.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>July:<\/strong> focused test of the new single sign-on feature.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>October:<\/strong> external network test after moving to a new cloud region.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>December:<\/strong> review what changed this year and scope next January&#8217;s test around it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The total is roughly five to six weeks of testing a year, spread where the risk is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Signs you are testing too rarely<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your last report is more than a year old.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The application in the report no longer looks like the one in production.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You have shipped features since the last test that nobody has tested.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Customers&#8217; security questionnaires ask for a test &#8220;within the last 12 months&#8221; and you hesitate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The same kinds of issue appear in every report, which means fixes are not reaching the code that causes them. See our post on <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/pentesting-in-ssdlc\/\">penetration testing in the SDLC<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is once a year enough?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a stable system with no compliance pressure, often yes. For anything that changes regularly or holds sensitive data, once a year leaves months of untested change. Add focused tests after significant releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is continuous penetration testing better?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Continuous testing, often sold as PTaaS, spreads testing across the year instead of one big engagement. It suits teams that ship constantly. The question to ask is how much of it is done by people. Automated checks are useful, but they do not replace a tester working through your business logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does a bug bounty program replace penetration testing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. They complement each other. Read <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/bug-bounty-vs-penetration-testing\/\">bug bounty vs penetration testing<\/a> for when each fits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long does each test take?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most single-application tests take one to two weeks of testing. Focused tests of a single feature can take a few days. Your quote should state the timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plan your testing calendar with us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell us how often you ship and which standards apply, and we will suggest a schedule that fits. <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/contact\">Book a free scoping call<\/a>, or see <a href=\"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/penetration-testing-cost\">what a test costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once a year is the floor, not the answer. Here is how often to test based on how fast you ship, what you store and which rules apply to you, with a sample yearly schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[47,6,95,91],"class_list":["post-7064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penetration-testing","tag-compliance","tag-penetration-testing","tag-pentest-frequency","tag-vulnerability-scanning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7064"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7103,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7064\/revisions\/7103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krylosecurity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}