How often should we test our detection with simulated attacks?
Run a small test after every significant change and a fuller one at least once a quarter, plus before an audit. Detection breaks quietly: a switch is replaced and the mirror port is not set up again, an agent stops after an update, a segment is added that nobody monitors. A short test after each change catches this. A quarterly round of the main scenarios, such as scanning, beaconing, lateral movement and a large outbound transfer, shows whether anything has drifted, and gives you dated evidence for auditors, insurers and customers. Keep a simple log: date, scenario, expected alert, actual alert, time to alert, follow-up. Tell your team and any provider before you test, so nobody isolates a machine by mistake. NetSenX includes breach and attack simulation from the Business plan; on other plans you can run the same scenarios by hand.