From “Set and Forget” to “Continuous Testing”: The Evolution of VAPT for Modern Threats

For years, organizations treated Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) as a one-time compliance checkbox — conduct a test, fix reported issues, and archive the report. This “set and forget” mindset may have worked in slower IT environments. But in today’s cloud-native, DevOps-driven ecosystems, threats evolve daily — and so must security testing.

At Cybervault we’ve seen firsthand how modern security requires continuous validation, not periodic review.

The Limitation of Traditional VAPT

Traditional VAPT engagements were:

  1. Annual or bi-annual

  2. Compliance-focused

  3. Static in scope

  4. Perimeter-centric

    However, attackers operate continuously. Incidents like the     SolarWinds breach demonstrated how sophisticated supply chain attacks can bypass traditional security checks
    With frequent code deployments, cloud migrations, and API integrations, the attack surface changes faster than annual assessments can track.

Why Continuous Testing Is Essential ?

1. Frequent Code Releases

DevOps pipelines push updates regularly. Each release may introduce new vulnerabilities.

2. Expanding Attack Surface

Cloud assets, exposed APIs, and misconfigured storage buckets increase external exposure.

3. Emerging Vulnerabilities

Communities like OWASP constantly update critical risk categories, reflecting the evolving threat landscape.

Continuous VAPT ensures vulnerabilities are detected and remediated before exploitation.

What Modern Continuous VAPT Includes ?

  1. Automated vulnerability scanning

  2. Scheduled manual penetration testing

  3. Red team simulations

  4. Attack surface monitoring

  5. Re-testing after major deployments

At Cybervault’s VAPT Services, we integrate continuous validation aligned with DevSecOps principles to help organizations stay resilient against real-world threats.

 

From Compliance to Risk-Based Security

Old approach:
“Did we pass the audit?”

Modern approach:
“Are we secure against active attack techniques today?”

Continuous testing shifts focus from documentation to exploitability and business impact.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is no longer a yearly activity — it’s an ongoing discipline. Organizations that adopt continuous VAPT reduce breach risks, improve remediation timelines, and build long-term cyber resilience.

The question is no longer whether you’ve conducted a VAPT —
but whether you’re continuously testing against evolving threats.