When rethinking resilience in businesses we might ask ourselves: Why are continuous vulnerability assessments the new standard for endpoint and network security? In today’s dynamic threat landscape, periodic scans are no longer sufficient. Continuous vulnerability assessments (CVA) offer a proactive, scalable approach to managing risk across endpoints and network devices. By closing visibility gaps and enabling faster, more confident decisions, CVA helps organisations align security with business outcomes - delivering earlier detection, smarter prioritisation, and measurable gains in compliance and resilience.
Continuity is non-negotiable. Threats evolve daily, and so do the assets within your environment. Endpoints and network devices are in constant flux - new devices appear, configurations drift, updates roll out, and access patterns shift. A one-time scan cannot capture these dynamics or verify that remediation efforts remain effective.
CVA provides a living view of risk. It ensures visibility where it matters most for senior leaders: enterprise risk posture, regulatory compliance, and risk-adjusted investment decisions. For many organisations, CVA is not just a hygiene measure - it’s a governance and assurance capability that supports audit readiness and third-party risk programmes.
What CVA looks like in practice
A well-structured CVA programme includes:
Five pillars for successful implementation
To embed CVA effectively, organisations should focus on five foundational areas:
- Governance and policy
- Technology and data
- Processes and workflows
- Metrics and reporting
- Change management and automation
Governance and policy
Define the scope of coverage - what endpoints and network devices are included - alongside risk tolerance and escalation paths. Establish clear ownership across asset owners, SecOps, IT operations, and governance committees.
Technology and data
Leverage a centralised CVA platform capable of ingesting data from EDR/XDR, asset inventories, CMDBs, patch systems, and network management tools. Ensure coverage extends to remote and bring-your-own devices, as well as segmented networks.
Processes and workflows
Standardise procedures for triage, remediation, verification, and reporting. Link CVA outcomes to remediation SLAs, change control processes, and incident response playbooks.
Metrics and reporting
Track key indicators such as time-to-discovery, time-to-remediation, remediation coverage by asset criticality, residual risk exposure, and audit/compliance readiness.
Change management and automation
Use automation to reduce manual effort, standardise configurations, and accelerate repeatable fixes, while maintaining guardrails for safety and compliance.
How can we help?
PwC Digital Services partners with organisations to design, deliver, and govern CVA programmes tailored to their risk appetite, regulatory context, and operating model. Our multidisciplinary teams comprising of cybersecurity specialists, risk and controls experts, data scientists, and programme managers, embed with your teams to drive outcomes.
We offer CVA as a managed service, covering everything from strategy and toolchain setup to automated discovery, continuous scanning, remediation coordination, verification, and executive reporting - all under defined SLAs. This managed approach ensures ongoing governance, knowledge transfer, and continuous optimisation to keep pace with evolving threats.
For organisations seeking advisory-led support, we provide playbooks and capability handover to internal teams. We also host leadership-focused workshops and hands-on events to demonstrate practical use cases and real-world examples - helping executives and practitioners validate approaches and accelerate adoption.
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