The Basics of Web Application Security Testing

Web applications are revolutionizing the connection between businesses and customers, in the form of online shopping, customized options, subscription services, etc. The question of staying relevant for every customer’s needs without frequent and expensive updates or installation requirements has been answered. It’s also not just customer services, with many companies choosing to optimize their internal requirements through web applications. This includes automation requirements, communication between levels, financing, etc.

However, what’s popular and useful is also highly coveted by malicious forces online. Data from Verizon shows that the frequency of data breaches concerning web applications has risen to 41%. What makes it more interesting is that these attacks are discovered by security testers much later, several months after it has occurred. Therefore, cyber-attacks often revolve around the flaws of web applications, making periodic web application security testing crucial.

What should you know about Web Application Security Testing?

If you’re looking into conducting a comprehensive and successful web application security testing, here are a few things to consider:

1. Your business purpose decides the security strategy

This is good sense – the more important information is to your business, the more frequently security tests should be conducted. In this day and age, every business requires some portion of customer data to stay competitive, but there are degrees of usage. For example, if you use sensitive information like the customer’s financial details (credit card), personal identifiable information (PII – medical or other preferences), periodic testing is a necessity.

Checking for vulnerabilities may also be government-mandated or a part of the industry’s VAPT certification requirements. This aspect should define the scope of testing and your goals from the web application security testing process.

2. Build and fix simultaneously

The end result of web application security testing should be a report listing the issues found throughout the process. This is usually transferred to the development or IT team to address, but it’s always better to time the fixes. It’s not optimal to transfer a hundred different issues in one day and expect them to be resolved in a snap.

Instead, as soon as the issue is discovered, it should immediately be assigned a level of criticality. For example, on a scale of 1-10, how urgent is the vulnerability in terms of the risk it brings to the organization’s tasks? For a better understanding of how to rate vulnerabilities, you can also refer to the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). Most teams also have an unofficial list of all the bugs they have encountered or tweaks that optimize the performance, so make sure both of these are integrated. This will give a better picture of the overall security and reduce the time taken for remediation.

3. Early detection makes everything simpler

It’s no secret that the earlier the issues are found in the software development life cycle (SDLC), the easier it’s to resolve. Processes are often built on each other for seamless integration, so taking down one mostly brings down the other. Also, security testing shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought but rather be given adequate priority before, after, and during the development cycle.

Development and maintenance processes will also move simpler if issues are fixed as quickly as possible. Make sure that all relevant stakeholders are involved in the process, in this case, the IT and/or cybersecurity team. Familiarity with the vulnerabilities will ensure that they’re able to quickly respond, make efficient decisions, and reduce time and resources spent for remediation.

What are the different types of web application security testing processes?

The uniqueness of each business and its requirements makes it necessary to have different types of testing methodologies. It’ll make sure that all the vulnerabilities are captured and testing is done in issues and areas that are more important for their functioning.

• Application Testing is where the skills and expertise of the security tester come into play. Usually involving penetration testing procedures, the tester has to don the role of the hacker and find out vulnerabilities for exploitation. This can be done both with full knowledge of the system or zero awareness, bringing out different issues for each case.
  Some organizations prefer to get it done in-house, but this again depends on the priority afforded to the importance of data. Outsourcing to a trustworthy third-party organization can give detailed results and a better perspective.
• Static Application Security Testing, or SAST, focuses on the vulnerabilities usually found in the web application’s source code. The testing strategy moves from the inside to the outside for finding out weaknesses and offers a snapshot of security at a particular point.
• Dynamic Application Security Testing, or DAST, is based more on real-time actions of the web application when faced with a hacker. Simulated attacks detect vulnerabilities that may be exploited and rank them on the risk they possess to the system. These tests don’t require the original source code, so they are done more periodically with lesser time.

In this manner, there are many more details that should be known about web application security testing to make it a smooth and successful process.