Last Updated: February 23rd, 2021
Penetration testing or pen tests are often used in cybersecurity. It’s a security technique in which a weakness found in the network is exploited to see if the IT team can access sensitive information like credit card details in the company.
The testing for web applications often simulates unauthorized attacks into a network to get sensitive data. This can be done internally or externally. The white hat hackers are the ones who are involved in Web application penetration testing and ensure that the security is at its maximum. The process helps the end-users find out how a vulnerability in the system can be exploited by cybercriminals who are waiting for the right chance to pounce.
Why is Pen Test Required in the First Place?
Many business owners may often hear the word “vulnerability” from their IT teams regarding security. When some of these people initially started working, many may have gotten confused with this word, and readers may also find this baffling.
Vulnerability scanning involves finding a weakness in the system and applications, and it’s up to the IT guys to improve and fix everything before hackers can exploit the network. The vulnerability scan finds the weakest link in the system and lets the right team know about this. The software involved will tell the owners if the security patches were installed correctly and if there’s enough configuration to make cybercriminals’ attacks more challenging.
On the other hand, there are pen tests that regularly simulate real-life occurrences done by cyber criminals. They will help the IT guys work to identify the weak points and see if they can penetrate the system live. If they could exploit the weakness, they will then look for the total extent of the damage that can be done to the company.
Vulnerability scans are the detective controls that can be performed by specific software, and pen tests are done by a live person who tries ethical hacking into the network and sees if the vulnerability is not a false positive and if he can get admin access, passcodes, and credit card information from the entire organization. You can read more about admin access or privileges in this link here.
After patches have been made to the vulnerability, a second scan may be conducted to ensure that everything is fixed. If the issue resurfaces again, then additional security layers may be needed to ward off cyberattacks. Both methods are critical, and they usually go hand in hand, especially in web applications.
Why Use Pen Tests on Web Apps
- Identify and specify known vulnerabilities in the system
- Check the overall effectiveness of existing policies and security measures
- It helps to test the components exposed publicly like DNS, routers, firewall, and more.
- Let the users find the weakest route where attacks can be made
- Finding loopholes that will result in theft of sensitive data
If you’re looking at the current demand, a sharp increase has been noted with mobile phones. These gadgets are starting to become a potential threat that cyberhackers can use for an all-out attack.
With the rise of access through apps and mobile phones, a data compromise can occur. This is where penetration testing has become a helpful tool. Pen tests will prevent data loss and possible events of hacking in a company.
Methodologies
A methodology is a set of guidelines set by the industry on the process of testing. Many famous and established procedures are there to guide the testing. However, some web apps may often demand a different type of assessment that needs to be performed.
It’s no surprise that many testers are tweaking or creating their own methodology for a specific task. Some parts of the web testing are the following:
- Cross-Site Scripts
- Broken Authentication
- Session Management
- Flaws in Uploading Files
- SQL Injection
- Password Cracking
- Cross-site Request Forgery
- Security Misconfigurations
- Caching Server Attacks
Even though the items that are part of the list are listed above, the testers mustn’t blindly create something on their own that’s not following the conventional standards. If an IT team is assigned with the eCommerce part of the business, it’s crucial to design a test that’s more fit with a particular industry.