Penetration testing for web applications is a common solution offered by cybersecurity professionals, one that’s required to ensure that your web applications are free of more basic vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
Penetration testing is an ethical hacking technique, whereby security professionals simulate cyberattacks against your systems - or in this case, your web applications - to evaluate how secure your cybersecurity protections are.
Given how integral web applications are to the smooth functioning of any entity, making sure these are secure can prevent a whole lot of damage and disruption, should a cybercriminal gain access to your applications.
In this form of pen testing, security service providers or penetration testers simulate attacks both internally and externally to try and access sensitive business information.
By doing so, they help end-users, such as yourself, to understand how a cybercriminal may access your data over the internet, how secure your email servers, web hosting site, and server are.
There are various methodologies used to conduct penetration testing for web applications, depending on the type of web application in question. These are formulated in line with leading security standards, including the following:
When it comes to penetration testing for web applications, another pertinent consideration is whether you require internal or external testing.
Internal pen testing is done within your company, over the LAN, given that it comprises testing web applications that are hosted on the intranet. Internal testing is particularly useful because it helps you identify vulnerabilities within your company firewall.
This type of testing also aims to identify any attacks that may originate within your security environment and systems, even those that are launched by your own employees.
External penetration testing, on the other hand, aims to detect vulnerabilities that allow external attacks to occur across your systems. Here, testing is conducted for web applications hosted on the internet. Pen testers have to assume the level of knowledge a malicious external party may have and proceed to test your systems on those grounds.
Testers are given the IP of the target systems and are required to scan public web pages and discover more information about the target site, which, in this case, is your company’s, and find ways to compromise your web applications.
Today, security professionals leverage certain tools to automate certain aspects of web application pen-testing. Automation is popular because it not only saves time but also improves efficiency and accuracy, covers a wider area of testing, and enhances the manual elements of this type of testing, which is just as crucial.
Tools used in this process include sophisticated automated scanners, which reduce false positives in this process and make sure the results you receive are actionable. These tools need to be complemented by manual efforts, however, in order to be truly effective and precise.
Some of the tools for penetration testing for web applications include Vega, NetSparket, ZAP, and Arachni, to name just a few.
Apart from the obvious - i.e. detect web application vulnerabilities, both internally and externally - penetration testing for web applications verify whether your security software and strategies are working, test essential components like public-facing firewalls, DNS and your routers as well as chinks in your defensive armour, and helps you understand how cybercriminals may infiltrate your systems.
Penetration testing for web applications needs to be an element of your overall cybersecurity strategy, especially if you’re keen on leaving no stone unturned when it comes to company security.