Basics on Web App Pen Testing

The spending on data and information security grew more than $123 billion in the year 2020 worldwide. More and more companies shifted towards cloud-based infrastructure due to the Covid-19 crisis, and the biggest concern for the companies is the security of their Web application or web app.

The internet has brought the world closer, and everything is easily accessible from any corner of the globe. However, this enhancement in technologies has also brought malicious activities to manipulate this digital world. Hackers use advanced techniques to exploit the resources and information available online to accomplish their illegal activities and earn huge profits.

To ensure that your web application is on the safer side, it has become mandatory to implement security policies and take immediate actions to understand and fix the security vulnerabilities present in the system. Web application penetration testing is one such way that simulates or mimics the cyberattacks to break into your system and access confidential information.

Introduction to Web App Pen Testing

Web applications are a vital element for the success of a business and thus an attraction for cybercriminals. Hackers leave no chance to exploit the vulnerabilities present in a web app and demand ransomware to restore the application or perform malicious activities using your web app as a platform.

Penetration testing or Pen testing includes attempts to breach multiple application systems like APIs, frontend/backend servers, etc., to discover the security gaps vulnerable to outer world attacks. The results of a web app pen testing can be the foundation for designing the security policies and protocols for the organization.

Web app pen testing can help identify issues like injection flaws, input validation issues, security misconfigurations, authentication limitations, shortcomings of the application logic, and so on.

The vulnerabilities and issues are detected are resolved in the order of the severity and the damage that they can cause. Web app security testing helps frame a layout and work plan to fix the significant security gaps and risks in a well-designed plan to mitigate the associated risks.

What is the need for Web App Pen Testing?

Internet is a tool that helps for almost all our daily needs, from searching for information to completing bank transactions. However, web applications often store and share sensitive and confidential information that is susceptible. Therefore security is an essential parameter to safeguard your web application.

Web app pen testing is a preventive measure to analyze and understand the existing security policies of your system. As the customers become more tech-friendly, they also seek options that can help them surf with security. Customers are always concerned about the security of the information they share on the internet, and once they know that you have failed to meet those expectations, their faith in your business is lost.

Web app pen testing is advantageous as it helps you find unknown risks and check the efficiency of the pre-existing security protocols, test the security components like firewalls, determine the routes for attacks, and find entry points for data theft. Thus, web app pen testing gives a 360-degree view of the security of your application.

It can also help you achieve certain data privacy and security compliance and allow you to get certified with the industry-recognized VAPT certification.

Web App Pen Testing Methodology

Web app pen testing is concentrated on the setup and environment of the web application. It focuses mainly on information gathering about the web app, mapping the host network, and examine the endpoints for injections or attacks.

The steps involved in web app pen testing are as follows:

1. Planning Phase

This phase includes making crucial decisions that affect the further stages of the web app pen testing methodology. This defines the scope, time duration, and the members involved, among other things, for the pen testing process.

The process of defining the scope is the most important of all before starting with the actual attack. It involves considering multiple factors like deciding the pages to test, type of testing (internal or external) to perform, etc.

Fixing a specific time for the attack ensures that the testing is not extended for too long. After that, one can implement the security protocols to prevent your web application from cyberattacks.

2. Pre-attack phase

This is the information gathering or the reconnaissance phase of the web app pen-testing. It provides testers with all the necessary information to perform efficient pen testing on the web app to discover risks and security issues.

Reconnaissance is of two types: Passive reconnaissance that includes collecting information available on the internet without interacting with the target. It involves using Google syntax; enumerate website subdomains, links, etc.

Active reconnaissance involves direct interaction with the target system to fetch results and information. The most common methodologies used for active reconnaissance are Nmap fingerprinting, DNS forward and reverse lookup, Identifying related external sites, and many more.

3. Attacking phase

During the attack phase, the tester implements the attacks depending on the information gathered from the previous phases. Finally, the pen testers break into the web application’s internal structures, trying to compromise the host.

This phase includes social engineering attacks, phishing employees or CXOs of the company, security breaching, web app exploits, etc. Testers often use multiple tools for this phase.

4. Reporting and Recommending phase

Once the web app penetration testing gets over, an in-depth report of all the results, the result varies from organization to organization and the kind of application.

This report includes the list of vulnerabilities, arranged in the order of their criticality, remedies suggested, analysis, and conclusion of the test. The testers also restore the infrastructure of the system to the original state once the attack is complete.

Conclusion

Web applications have made life easier and more convenient for all, but everything comes at a cost. The apps on the internet are readily available and prone to data and security breaches and thus require a security mechanism to avoid any malicious activities. Due to the growth of technology, web applications are the most common targets for hackers and should be a priority for pen-testing.

Web app pen testing will help the organization secure its business and sensitive data and make them aware of its flaws and loopholes. Web app pen testing checks the application’s code, wrong and error data, environment, and database to find the security issues and exploit them, thus providing the best solutions to fix them.

It is always recommended to approach professionals for high-quality web app pen-testing.