Web App Penetration Testing is a method to detect the vulnerabilities using some penetration testing methods in a web application. The technique of Web Application Penetration testing is a similar method of Penetration Testing and aims to find vulnerabilities into any web application.
Web application penetration testing is done by using manual and automated penetration tests or using similar tools to identify any security flaws, vulnerability, or threats in any web application.
The tests are a combination of malicious penetration attacks which are carried on the web application. When making the attack, the penetration tester attacks the application from an attacker’s perspective and not from the developer’s perspective.
The main aim of web application penetration testing is to identify the security weaknesses of the entire web application and its related components (database, source code, back-end network).
This method also helps in prioritizing the identified threats and vulnerabilities and possible ways to prevent and patch them.
Importance and the need for Web App Pen Testing:
- Helps in testing the components of web applications like routers, DNS, and firewalls.
- It helps in finding unknown vulnerabilities.
- It can help in finding loopholes that can lead to the theft of sensitive data.
- Help developers find the ways, through which hackers can get access to the web application.
- It helps in finding the total effectiveness of all the security policies.
Today’s generation likes to use handy gadgets, and that why they prefer opening applications on the mobile phone rather than laptops or computers.
Accessing the web application through mobile increases the chances of having the attacks and comprising of data. And that’s why penetration testing plays an essential role in building a secure system that has fewer or no vulnerabilities, and there is no data loss.
Web Penetration Testing Methodology
The methodology of web application penetration testing is not unique, but it is similar to other penetration testing methodologies. The main idea of this methodology is nothing but a set of security industry rules and guidelines which tell how the testing should be conducted to secure an application. There are already some best and well-tested methodologies. Still, every hacker is different and has different sets of methods and algorithms, so they prefer using mixed methods for every attack and project.
Some of the Security Testing Methodologies and standards are –
- PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
- OSSTMM (Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual)
- PTF (Penetration Testing Framework)
- OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project)
- ISSAF (Information Systems Security Assessment Framework)
Test Scenarios:
Below are some of the test scenarios which can be used as a reference for making methodologies for Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT):
- Cross-Site Scripting
- SQL Injection
- Broken authentication and session management
- File Upload flaws
- Caching Servers Attacks
- Security Mis-configurations
- Cross-Site Request Forgery
- Password Cracking
Some Penetration Testing Certifications:
If you are interested in getting certified on web app penetration certification, you can opt for below certifications:
- GWAPT (GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester)
- OSWE (Offensive Security Web Expert)
- eWPT (elearnSecurity Web Application Penetration Tester)
- CWAPT (Certified Web App Penetration Tester)
Top Penetration Testing tools
There are many tools available in the market, which can let you do the entire work in just minutes. Below am listing some automatic penetration tools which can help you to automate your work.
These tools are hassle-free and provide compelling features for pen-testing. All these tools are better than each other to some extent, but you got to pay for the prices. Some tools are free, but some tools have a very high price; these high pricing tools are much useful.
So just check out the below list to find the tool of your need.
- Free Pen Test tool
- Veracode
- Vega
- Burp Suite
- NetSparker
- Arachni
- Acunetix
- ZAP
