Small teams rarely have a security department. They have a few developers, maybe a team lead, and sometimes an MSP that looks after the infrastructure. Everyone is busy shipping.

Security testing still matters. This guide sets out a simple way to keep testing as you ship, without a big team or a big budget.

The gap between releases

Many small teams get one security test a year. It might be for a customer, an insurer or a compliance form.

That test is a snapshot. It shows how your systems looked during the test window. The day after, things start to change:

a new feature goes live

a third-party integration is added

a cloud setting is changed in a hurry

a dependency is upgraded, or not

Each change can open something new. By the next annual test, the old report describes a system that no longer exists.

What "continuous testing" means in practice

Continuous testing does not mean someone watches your systems all day and night.…