If you’re responsible for keeping your business secure, you’ve likely heard both terms: vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. They sound similar, yet they serve different purposes. Choosing the right approach can save you time, reduce risk and help you meet audit or client requirements.
In this guide, we cover what each one does, how they complement each other, how often you should run them, and how our tech experts support ongoing improvement. Let’s jump into it.
What is vulnerability scanning?
Vulnerability scanning is an automated check of your systems to find known weaknesses. Think of it as a routine health check that looks for missing patches, exposed services, default credentials, weak encryption settings and misconfigurations. Scans compare what the tool finds against large databases of known issues, then flag items for review based on severity.
Good scanners also identify internet‑facing risks that attackers commonly probe. Examples include outdated VPN portals, web servers with old TLS versions, open remote desktop services, or cloud storage with permissive access. The fastest value from a scan usually comes from easy fixes, such as applying missing updates, closing unused ports and tightening identity and access settings.
At Ever Nimble, we run scheduled external scans, validate critical findings to cut down false positives and deliver prioritised remediation guidance that ties each issue to business impact. The result? You get a practical roadmap, not a wall of technical alerts.
What is penetration testing?
Penetration testing, often called pentesting, is a human‑led simulation of an attacker trying to exploit weaknesses. Testers use a blend of tools and manual techniques to chain small issues into real‑world attack paths.
Where a scan might say there is a vulnerability, a pentest aims to prove what an adversary could actually do with it, such as access sensitive data, take over an account or move laterally between systems.
Common scenarios include external network testing, web application testing, cloud configuration reviews and internal testing that simulates a compromised workstation. A strong test provides evidence, risk explanation, and actionable fixes, prioritised by likelihood and impact. It answers the question, “What could go wrong in our environment if an attacker tried?”
If you need a deeper, scenario‑driven assessment, our pentesting services are designed to safely demonstrate risk, confirm exploitability and give you clear remediation steps that align with your environment.
What’s the difference, and when should you use each?
Purpose:
- Vulnerability scanning finds known issues quickly and at scale.
- Penetration testing proves exploitability and business impact through ethical attack simulation.
Speed and frequency:
- Scanning is fast, repeatable and suited to regular cadence.
- Pentesting is point‑in‑time, more in‑depth and usually scheduled around change, risk or compliance needs.
Output:
- Scans produce a list of findings sorted by severity, ideal for ongoing hygiene.
- Pentests provide validated attack paths and evidence, ideal for board‑level context, risk acceptance decisions and targeted fixes.
Cost‑benefit to SMBs:
- Scanning offers continuous value, catching common and emerging issues before they become incidents.
- Pentesting offers deeper assurance and is essential for higher‑risk systems, internet‑facing applications and compliance attestations.
In short, scanning is the seatbelt you use every day, while pentesting is the crash test that proves your controls will hold up under pressure. Most businesses benefit from both, with scanning as the foundation and pentesting at planned intervals.
How often should a business scan for vulnerabilities?
For most SMBs, monthly external scanning is a strong baseline. If you handle sensitive data or operate internet‑facing applications, increase frequency to fortnightly or even weekly for critical assets. Always run ad‑hoc scans after significant changes, such as firewall updates, new public services, or major software releases.
Internal scanning is also valuable. Run quarterly or monthly internal scans to catch gaps in patching, legacy protocols and configuration drift. Pair those scans with a simple change management process, so fixes are tracked and verified, not just noted.
Why are regular vulnerability assessments important?
Attackers rarely use brand‑new tricks. More often, they exploit known issues that have been left unresolved. Regular assessments reduce the window of exposure by catching those issues early and guiding the right fix.
They also help you:
- Maintain a consistent patch rhythm without disrupting your teams.
- Validate that recent changes did not introduce new risks.
- Demonstrate progress to leadership, auditors and customers.
- Prioritise effort where it matters, based on exploitability and business impact.
We often see scanning prevent incidents in practical ways. For example, a routine external scan identified an outdated SSL VPN portal at a regional site with a known vulnerability. Closing that gap and enforcing MFA removed an easy entry point that attackers were actively scanning across the internet.
When is penetration testing the right choice?
Choose a pentest when you need to understand how weaknesses could be chained together, prove impact, or meet a specific client or compliance requirement. Common triggers include:
- Launching a new customer portal or major feature in a web application.
- Migrating to a new cloud architecture or enabling public access to a service.
- Completing a major remediation program and wanting assurance that it holds up under realistic attack.
- Responding to a recent incident with a focused test to validate fixes and reduce the chance of recurrence.
A well‑scoped pentest delivers the context you need to prioritise work, assign ownership and brief senior stakeholders with confidence.
How Ever Nimble supports ongoing vulnerability management
Our approach combines regular scanning, targeted testing and clear reporting that your leadership team can act on. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Scheduled external scans with validation to reduce noise, plus prioritised remediation guidance mapped to risk.
- Internal scanning and configuration reviews to catch drift and legacy exposures.
- Penetration testing for high‑value systems and applications, including evidence‑based findings and collaborative fix planning.
- Integration with monitoring and response so critical exposures are watched while you remediate.
- Plain‑English reporting that explains what changed, why it matters and what to do next.
Ready to get started? Our tech experts are here to help, from handling technical work through to keeping reporting simple and actionable. Get in touch today to learn more about our vulnerability scanning and pentesting services, so you can keep your business protected.
