In Australia, 22% of SMEs reported that their businesses were impacted by some form of cybercrime in FY 2025. Stats like these have put cyber security high on the priority list for many organisations. You might even have recently reviewed and updated your own strategy.
As we know, good cyber security is not a one-and-done activity. In most cases when an organisation is impacted by a cyber incident they usually have some level of security in place, but cybercriminals found a gap in the defences. A common question is whether a penetration test is required, and if so, when.
To answer that question, a good pace to start with is, what exactly is a penetration test? A pen test is typically a point in time, authorised attempt to compromise a system, environment, or application. It emulates adversary and attack behaviour so your organisation can address weaknesses before cybercriminals exploit them. For example, a pen test may use several methods to see if they can bypass your website’s login. If one or more of the methods they use are successful, then you know what to fix.
We recommend using pen testing to validate the effectiveness of your cyber security controls. It shows the gaps in your baseline security controls, so you can make further refinements. Continuously running pen testing ensures you get ahead of any new vulnerabilities.
Why Run Penetration Testing?
Pen testing measures the actual success of your cyber security controls by providing:
- A benchmark of risk at a point in time, with findings prioritised by severity and likely impact.
- Clear remediation direction, so that the security strategy targets weaknesses that matter most, not the loudest alerts.
- Control validation across real pathways, including identity, misconfigurations, and common entry points such as credential exposure and phishing-related access.
It is important to note that a pen test does not give a complete picture of best practices that covers people, processes and technology. Rather it is usually an action point from the cyber risk assessment, or aligning with a cyber security framework and implementing risk management frameworks to identify and treat cyber risks.
When Should You Conduct Penetration Testing?
Common drivers include:
- Major system changes such as new infrastructure, firewall/VPN changes, cloud tenancy changes, or identity changes.
- Remote access changes for hybrid teams have rolled out and people are accessing sensitive data from afar.
- Launching or redesigning a web application, especially donation pages, customer portals, booking systems, and authenticated workflows.
- Your organisation is growing, and systems are changing and we you are looking to de-risk that growth.
- Integrating third-party platforms such as CRM, payments, marketing automation, or data-sharing integrations.
- When compliance, insurance, or procurement requires evidence, particularly where testing is expected annually and after significant changes.
- Assurance or you need to provide evidence of security testing to your board, grant provider, insurer, or partner.
In addition to your environment changing, cybercriminals also refine their attack methods. It’s for these reasons that instead of asking ‘Have we ever done a pen test?’, you should ask ‘How do we validate risk continuously?’
Traditional vs Automated Penetration Testing
Most organisations see the best results from a combination of traditional (human-led) pen testing and automated pen testing because each approach validates risk in a different way. Here are the differences.
Traditional (human-led) pen testing:
Traditional penetration testing is a manual process where skilled cyber security professionals simulate real-world attacks on systems, networks, or applications to identify vulnerabilities and security weaknesses. Although it is often expensive and out of reach for smaller organisations.
Human-led testing is best when you need deeper validation, complex exploitation, or assessment across specific environments. It is often used for:
- High-risk external infrastructure exposure
- Web apps and authenticated workflows
- Cloud configuration and identity pathways
- Wireless and physical security scenarios
Automated pen testing:
Automated penetration testing uses software tools and scripts to systematically scan and probe systems for known vulnerabilities, executing predefined attack patterns at scale and speed without requiring constant human intervention.
Traditional pen testing is often expensive, infrequent and difficult for SMBs and NFPs to sustain. Automated pen testing lowers the barrier to entry while still delivering meaningful outcomes.
Automated pen testing helps when you need regular coverage across your environment, without the cost and lead time of frequent human-led testing. It is most useful for identifying common, repeatable weaknesses and configuration issues that can appear as systems evolve. Although it is typically limited to internal and external network tests, and is not always effective across cloud, web and physical security.
Why Conduct Monthly Automated Pen Testing?
Monthly automated pen testing (or continuous pen testing) can be a strong fit where you have frequent changes and an internet-facing attack surface.
It tends to fit best for:
- Securing internet-exposed legacy systems, such as CCTV or access control systems
- Testing ‘always on’ remote access and internet-facing infrastructure that must remain available
- Meeting compliance requirements, such as NIST framework or ISO27001 accreditation
Automated pen testing does not replace human-led testing entirely. It is to create regular testing for continuous validation, rather than testing at one point in time. Your organisation can then use targeted human testing for deeper, higher-risk areas or areas outside of internal and external networks.
Conclusion
Pen testing can prevent cyber incidents by identifying vulnerabilities before attackers do. It turns risk into practical actions by proving what’s exploitable, prioritising fixes that reduce the chance of disruption, confirming improvements through retesting and meeting compliance requirements. When run as an ongoing program rather than a one-off exercise, pen testing helps SMB and NFPs keep their doors open to the customers and communities that rely on their services.
Rodin’s Pen Testing Mitigates Risk and Keeps Your Business Running
Rodin delivers penetration testing across web applications, infrastructure, cloud, remote access, wireless, and physical security, with clear reporting that confirms what can be exploited and what to fix first. Our cyber security professionals customise pen tests to your organisation’s environment, help you meet compliance requirements and provide detailed reporting to guide decision-making on your security strategy.
If you want to establish a baseline and move to ongoing validation, Rodin can scope the right approach. Start with a practical conversation about how our penetrating testing services can help protect your business.
