How Often Should Your Business Conduct a Security Assessment?

There's no single schedule that fits every organization. The right cadence depends on your risk, how quickly your environment changes and any requirements you need to meet.

A practical baseline

Many organizations perform a comprehensive security assessment at least once a year, with lighter vulnerability scanning more often, such as monthly or quarterly.

Assess after significant changes

• Moving systems to the cloud or adopting a major new platform
• Launching a new application or customer-facing website
• Mergers, acquisitions or opening a new location
• Major network or infrastructure changes
• After a security incident

Reasons to assess more often

• You handle sensitive customer, financial or health information
• Industry regulations or contracts require it
• Customers or insurers ask for evidence of testing
• Your environment is growing or changing quickly

Make each assessment count

Track findings through to completion, compare results over time and use each assessment to plan the next year's priorities. Steady progress matters more than a perfect score.