Penetration tests are often treated like a gold standard.
They’re expensive. Formal. Signed off by boards.
But here’s the truth:
🛑 A pen test is only a snapshot — and that snapshot is often obsolete before the ink is dry.
Let us explain — with a story from the field.
Real Story: The Pen Test That Missed Everything
A client recently asked to benchmark Cyber Tzar against the results of their recent penetration test — completed just four weeks earlier.
They wanted proof we could offer more value.
We were happy to provide it.
📊 Within minutes of running our scans, we uncovered dozens of critical vulnerabilities that the pen test had missed.
Why?
Because in the time since the pen test:
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A developer had pushed a new code release to production
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The change introduced new exposures — entirely untested
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No new scanning or security review had been done since
💥 The pen test, despite being “just done”, was already out of date.
Pen Tests Are Still Useful — But Not Enough
Let’s be clear — we’re not anti-pen test.
🛠 Pen tests are valuable for deep, manual probing.
But they should not be your only line of defence.
Here’s why:
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Pen tests are point-in-time — but threats are continuous
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They rarely integrate with CI/CD or DevSecOps workflows
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Many are checklist-driven and fail to simulate real-world change
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New exploits emerge daily — a clean pen test isn’t a lasting guarantee
Relying solely on annual testing is like checking a bridge for cracks once a year — even when lorries are passing over it daily.
Why “Shift Left” Matters
The above incident highlights more than a scanning gap — it shows a cultural gap.
⚙️ Security must shift left — meaning:
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Test during development
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Scan every code push
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Monitor infrastructure changes continuously
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Catch vulnerabilities before they hit production
Cyber Tzar was built with this principle in mind.
What Cyber Tzar Adds That Pen Tests Don’t
✅ Always-On Scanning
We continuously monitor web-facing assets — not once a year, but every day.
✅ Live Threat Intelligence Matching
Every vulnerability is scored against known active threats — if it’s being exploited now, we flag it immediately.
✅ Business Impact Prioritisation
Not every issue matters equally. We rank issues by their real-world risk to your organisation — not theoretical severity.
✅ DevSecOps-Friendly
Our platform supports shift-left workflows, providing visibility from test environments to live production.
Boards Need More Than a Badge
Pen test reports can give the illusion of safety.
But attackers don’t care about reports.
They care about open doors — and they check daily.
Boards should ask:
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What has changed since our last pen test?
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What are we doing to catch new issues introduced today?
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Are we scanning our infrastructure as frequently as we update it?
If there’s no answer — the risk is growing, silently.
Final Word
A pen test might show you what was safe last month.
Cyber Tzar shows you what’s at risk right now.
💡 Use pen tests for assurance.
⚠️ But use continuous scanning for defence.
📡 Want to see what your pen test missed?
🧪 Run a side-by-side scan with Cyber Tzar at cybertzar.com
