Web Application
Security Testing
Identifying Vulnerabilities in Your Web Applications
Security testing in web applications is the process of simulating a hacker-style attack on your web app in order to detect and analyze security vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. Web applications are critical to business success and an appealing target for cybercriminals. Web application security testing is the proactive identification of vulnerabilities in applications, such as those that could result in the loss of sensitive user and financial information.
Methodology
IntelligenceX’s comprehensive approach to performing penetration tests not only finds security vulnerabilities but also business logic vulnerabilities. Not only that, web application security checklists are provided based on industry standards such as OWASP10, SANS25, OSSTMM, and so on. Kratikal provides on-premises and off-premises web application security testing services. Furthermore, the effective usage of multiple testing methods is based on years of experience across diverse application threat surfaces such as online, mobile, and cloud.
Types of Testing
Black Box, often referred to as behavioral testing or external testing, is a form of software testing technique wherein no prior knowledge of the internal code structure, implementation specifics, or internal routes of an application is necessary. It focuses on the application’s input and output and is entirely dependent on the specifications and requirements for the software.
Gray Box testing, which combines black box and white box testing, is a software testing approach used for web application security testing while only having a general understanding of its core code. It searches for and identifies context-specific errors that the application’s poor code structure has produced.
The testing examines a software’s underlying structure, coding, and architecture to validate the input-output flow. Moreover, it improves the application’s design, security, and utility. Web application security testing of this kind is sometimes referred to as internal testing, clear box testing, open box testing, or glass box testing. This is because testers can see the code while conducting white box testing.
Benefits
Cybersecurity is important because it protects organizational assets and services from malicious attacks and safeguards all types of data, including but not limited to sensitive data, protected health information (PHI), and personally identifiable information (PII) from theft and loss.
Our Approach
Our cyber security approach prioritizes a layered, proactive defense strategy encompassing robust network security, vigilant endpoint protection, strict access controls, regular vulnerability assessments, employee security awareness training, and a rapid incident response plan, ensuring the protection of sensitive data and systems against evolving cyber threats by focusing on the “people, process, and technology” pillars.
Reconnaissance or information collection is one of the most crucial aspects of web application security testing. The first stage of the testing is all about learning as much as you can about the target application. Several instances of testing include performing search engine reconnaissance, discovering information leaks, enumerating apps, and fingerprinting apps followed by finding the entry point for the application.
Comprehending the deployed configuration of the server or infrastructure that runs the web application is nearly as crucial as performing web app security testing. Despite the diversity of application platforms, several fundamental platform setup difficulties like insecure HTTP methods, old/backup files, etc. can put the application at risk. Hence, areas like HTTP methods, file permissions, and strong transport security are all tested.
Authentication means verifying the identity of a user attempting to access a system. Testing the authentication process ensures security and identifies potential vulnerabilities. The testing includes checking the effectiveness of lockout mechanisms to prevent repeated login attempts. Other areas include the ability to bypass authentication measures, browser cache vulnerabilities that may expose sensitive information, and the security of alternative login methods such as mobile apps or APIs.
Session management is the collective term for any controls in charge of overseeing a user’s stateful activity with the web application they are using. Everything from user authentication to the general logout process is included in this stage of web application security testing. A few instances include session fixation, cross-site request forgery, cookie management, session timeout, and testing the functionality of the logout process.
One common security vulnerability in web applications is failing to properly validate input from users or the environment before using it. This lack of validation can lead to various serious issues, including buffer overflows, cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, interpreter injection, and file system vulnerabilities. Data input validation during web application security testing is crucial to protect web applications from these types of attacks.
During web application security testing, we frequently come across a plethora of error codes released by applications or web servers. By making specific requests, either manually or using tools, we can reveal these errors. These codes can provide valuable insights about databases, security vulnerabilities, and other technical aspects of the application. Analyzing error codes and stack traces, for instance, helps penetration testers identify potential weaknesses and improve the overall security of the application.
Identifying a vulnerability known as “Think Outside the Box”, which cannot be identified using a vulnerability scanner, depends on the penetration tester’s knowledge and abilities. In addition, this kind of vulnerability is sometimes one of the hardest to find as it is application-specific. It is also one of the most damaging to the program if it is exploited. Issues with integrity checks, unusual process times, uploading unexpected file types, and the ability to forge requests are a few examples.
FAQ's
How Often Should We conduct Web Application Security Testing?
This testing should be done frequently to ensure consistent IT and network security management. Web application security testing helps understand how hackers could use recently found threats or vulnerabilities.
What are the common things to test during Security Testing?
Application testing is a sort of software testing that identifies system flaws and involves security concepts such as Confidentiality, Integrity, Authentication, and Availability.
What is the duration of performing VAPT ?
The timeline of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing depends on the type of testing and the size of your network and applications.
What does effective security rely on?
For efficient security design, it depends on a few fundamentals - it needs to be able to identify threats, correlate data, and enforce regulations over a distributed and dynamic network.
What is Vulnerability Scanning?
A detection technique called vulnerability scanning enables users to identify application flaws and specifies fixes and enhancements to the application's overall security.
What is Web Application scanning?
A Web application scanner is a computerized security tool that looks for software flaws in Web applications. Initially, a web application scanner crawls the entire website, thoroughly examining each file it encounters, and showing the full website's structure.