Why Continuous Penetration Testing Is the Only Reasonable Strategy for Mobile Apps

For years, companies have treated penetration testing as a formal requirement. A once-a-year activity to get a compliance stamp and continue operating with peace of mind. But in 2025, this approach is not only obsolete, but also dangerous.

The current landscape does not forgive superficiality. Mobile devices and corporate apps have become the new operational heart. They handle sensitive data, orchestrate transactions, access critical systems. Yet, in the rush to comply with regulations such as ISO, PCI-DSS or SOC 2, many organizations limit themselves to an annual check. And in the meantime? Threats evolve every week.

Performing penetration tests just for compliance is like putting up a security door and leaving the windows open.

Compliance ≠ Security

The first big truth to accept is this: Passing an audit does not mean your apps are secure.

Compliance testing tends to:

• Be static and planned
• Focus on a subset of known vulnerabilities
• Ignore the dynamic context in which apps live and change

This approach can lead to a false sense of security. Is the penetration testing report positive? Good.
But a new SDK has been integrated. Or an open source dependency has changed. Or an operating system update has been released that affects app permissions.

None of these events are covered by an annual test.

Mobile apps are the new target

Security teams know: mobile apps are more exposed today than ever before. Their attack surface is vast and constantly changing. Why?

• Frequent deployment – ​​weekly or even daily releases make any audit quickly obsolete
• Diverse environments – personal devices, Android/iOS versions, modified ROMs
• Third-party components – SDKs, libraries, advertising systems, analytics, and more
• Use of sensitive permissions – camera, microphone, location, contacts, SMS

All of this turns mobile apps into a dynamic and fragile attack surface. Yet, in many organizations, security strategies are stuck with practices designed for static environments.

Don’t get caught off guard. Test the true security status of your mobile app today with DSA Pro, the advanced penetration test designed to go beyond compliance.
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Continuous Penetration Testing: How It Works

One-off testing doesn’t keep up with reality. The penetration testing report can be “old” the next day if a module has been updated in the meantime, or if the development framework has released a security patch. Instead of treating penetration testing as an event, it should be seen as a process. This concept is crucial. We need a shift from “doing a test to close a ticket” to “integrating security into the application lifecycle”.

A continuous approach includes:

• integrated testing in development (security by design)
• automated and recurring analysis
• monitoring of changes between one release and another
• collaboration between Dev team and Security team (or having specialized people, DevSecOps)

Want to include security testing in your CI/CD cycle? Discover DSA Fast, designed to support mobile devs in development.
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Compliance is a necessary basis, but it should not be the final goal. A pen test should focus on identifying real threats.
Mobisec, for example, structures its tests taking into account both OWASP standards and the business logic of the app.

The reports become working tools for the dev and security teams, not just pieces of paper.

Where to start?

• Assess your current state: how recent was the last pen test performed on your app?
• Integrate rapid tests (like DSA Fast) into your CI/CD flow
• Schedule an advanced pen test with DSA Pro
• Align Dev and Security on the same process

The biggest risk today is not being non-compliant, but having serious problems with your app and not knowing it.