Why this matters now
Over the past few months we have delivered penetration testing for HealthTech teams. One recent engagement is public, so we can name it. It was with Lify, where we tested the mobile apps on Android and iOS, as well as the core APIs.
Digital Health moves quickly, and so do attackers. Products today handle highly sensitive information, from clinical notes and identifiers to biometric readings and behavioural wellness data. In the EU, much of this is special category data under GDPR, which means higher expectations and higher penalties if you get it wrong. In markets such as Estonia and the wider Baltics, digital services are widely adopted and users are security conscious. Hospitals, insurers and distribution partners increasingly expect a recent, independent penetration test as part of onboarding and ongoing assurance.
Penetration testing is not a tick box. It is a practical safety net that validates whether your controls work under pressure. A good test simulates real attack paths in a controlled way, demonstrates business impact without causing harm, and delivers clear remediation guidance mapped to your stack.
What penetration testing is, and what it is not
Penetration testing is a structured assessment where experienced testers use attacker techniques to identify exploitable weaknesses in applications, APIs, and cloud infrastructure. The objective is to prove what is possible in practice, prioritise risks, and guide durable fixes.
It is not the same as a vulnerability scan, which is automated and breadth first. It is not a paperwork exercise focused purely on policies. It is not an unbounded attempt to break everything. Effective testing is scoped to business objectives, carried out safely, and aligned to risk.
Policy and framework expectations
Security policies and industry frameworks often require, or strongly imply, periodic testing. If you operate an ISO 27001 programme, penetration testing provides verification that controls are effective and feeds your risk treatment plan. SOC 2 expects evidence that safeguards are tested, not just described. Under GDPR you must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures. For systems processing health related data, regular, risk led testing is widely accepted as part of appropriate. Commercial partners add their own due diligence on top, including frequency, scope, and proof of retesting once fixes are applied. Even when a policy does not explicitly say penetration testing, it still asks for proof that defences hold up in practice. Testing provides that proof.
Why it is especially important in Digital Health and Digital Wellness
Healthcare and wellness platforms are attractive targets because the data is intimate and valuable. A single authorisation flaw in an API, a weak token handling flow in a mobile app, or an overly permissive cloud role can lead to data exposure, service disruption, or integrity issues in clinical processes. The harm is not only financial. Trust with patients, clinicians, and partners is hard won and easily lost.
Penetration testing gives product leaders a practical feedback loop. It validates privacy by design decisions, reveals integration weaknesses where third party SDKs or partner APIs create hidden risk, and identifies where changes to identity, encryption, logging, or isolation can remove whole classes of issues. Testing also produces evidence that shortens buyer reviews. When a hospital security team asks for assurance, a recent, credible test report answers most of their questions quickly.
How to structure testing for maximum value
Start with objectives. Decide whether your primary driver is partner due diligence, regulatory evidence, pre release assurance, or hardening a specific component such as APIs. Use those objectives to shape scope. Include web and mobile clients, back end services, APIs, cloud control plane, admin consoles, and external integrations that matter to data flow.
Run the test in a production like environment with realistic test data and privacy controls. Focus first on attack paths that lead to data exposure or disruption of clinical or wellness journeys. Combine manual testing for depth with targeted automation for coverage. Plan remediation from day one. Every finding should include a clear severity, a business impact narrative, and practical steps mapped to your technologies. Track issues in your engineering backlog, assign owners, and schedule a retest. Retesting converts a fix into evidence that partners and auditors can rely on.
The bottom line
In Digital Health and Digital Wellness, penetration testing is a management tool, not just a technical task. It reduces the likelihood and impact of incidents, lowers the cost of fixes by catching issues earlier, and speeds up commercial reviews by providing credible artefacts. Most importantly, it protects people by guarding the sensitive data that sits at the heart of healthcare and wellness experiences.
If you operate in the Baltics or the wider EU and are preparing for a partner review or a major release, plan testing early, link it to your business goals, act on the findings, and insist on retest. The result is stronger protection, faster sales cycles, and a platform your users can trust.
Read more about our approach at Penetration Testing or contact us via Contact.
