Transition from Periodic Security Assessments to Continuous Vulnerability Management Frameworks

Abstract

The article examines the transition from scheduled security assessments to continuous vulnerability management frameworks in enterprise environments with unstable external exposure. Cloud services, SaaS use, short-lived assets, and unmanaged public interfaces reduce the decision value of annual or project-based testing. The novelty of the study lies in combining external attack surface management, continuous penetration testing, vulnerability intelligence, and remediation verification into a single operating model. The aim is to explain why periodic assessment loses completeness when asset states change between review cycles. The method combines source analysis, comparative analysis, conceptual synthesis, and typological classification. The source base covers academic papers, public vulnerability intelligence instruments, official guidance, and industry definitions of external attack surface management. The study identifies three shifts: from snapshot testing to continuous discovery, from severity ranking to exploitation-aware prioritisation, and from automated scanning to expert-verified remediation. The model helps engineering and security teams design measurable programs to reduce exposure.