Web Application Penetration Testing(WAPT) and how to choose an ideal vendor?

Web application penetration testing (WAPT) is a crucial process that involves simulating hack-style attacks to identify potential vulnerabilities in web applications using simulated attacks.

Web application penetration testing involves a methodological series of steps aimed at gathering information about the target system, finding vulnerabilities or faults in them, researching for exploits that will succeed against those faults or vulnerabilities and compromise the web application.

Web application penetration testing works by using manual or automated penetration tests to identify any vulnerability, security flaws or threats in a web application. The tests involve using/implementing any of the known malicious penetration attacks on the application. The penetration tester exhibits/fabricates attacks and environment from an attacker’s perspective, such as using SQL injection tests. The web application penetration testing key outcome is to identify security weakness across the entire web application and its components (source code, database, back-end network). It also helps in prioritizing the identified vulnerabilities and threats, and possible ways to mitigate them.

Web application penetration testing is a fundamental security measure for web applications before going to market. It can further be put into three different types, of which each provides varying insights concerning the workability of the application internals. An understanding of these types will further lead the businesses to make decisions and go with the right method of testing that they need at hand.

Black-Box Penetration Testing This approach to testing replicates an external hacking or cyberattack, and the tester is blind to information about the internal structures, design, or implementation within the tested web application. The only access given to the testers is the root URL of the application. This testing identifies the vulnerabilities that outside individuals with inside information might exploit.

Grey-Box Penetration Testing Grey-box testing has a more informed approach because the tester is privy to partial knowledge regarding the environment of the application. Ideally, access would involve a root URL and some sample credentials to log into the application and inspect it from the viewpoint of a user with a low privilege level. This is very useful in today's modern web applications, for example, on Ofofo we have multiple user roles, such as buyers, sellers, and admins. If the application allows for self-registration, there is no need to provide more sample credentials. On the other hand, closed enterprise applications that do not allow registration require sample credentials in order to make an adequate and successful assessment of security for multiple user levels.

White-Box Penetration Testing The white-box testing approach is much more profound and requires complete disclosure of the application's code and internal structures. In this approach, testers are given read-only access to the source code to have a complete and detailed analysis through Static Application Security Testing (SAST). This consists of questioning to the fullest of the potential weaknesses in security, which is above and beyond the use of black-box or grey-box testing approaches.

Each kind of penetration testing has its unique benefits and is chosen based on particular requirements of the security measures needed and the risk profile that the application carries. Following the proper testing approach and understanding this, businesses can greatly secure a web application in their protection of sensitive data for a safer user experience.

In terms of thoroughness, White-Box Penetration Testing is greater than Grey-Box Penetration Testing is greater than Black-Box Penetration Testing.

Defining the scope is the most crucial aspect of web application penetration testing, through which small and medium businesses try to secure their online platforms. In a nutshell, the description of the coverage area ensures the assessment of all the critical assets that might have vulnerabilities. Below is a list of scope tiers that most penetration testing vendors usually offer:

Web Application Penetration Testing This part is related to the identification and remediation of the vulnerabilities that are found in the web applications themselves. This is important for the identification of security weaknesses that can be exploited through user interaction or other types of input from the outside.

Underlying Infrastructure Penetration Testing Infrastructure here means the one hosting the web application. All of this is important to have assessed in order to make sure that these parts, too, remain safe from any attack that could compromise the server environment altogether and hence affect all applications hosted on the environment.

API Penetration Testing Another part is the penetration testing of the web services or APIs connected to the web application. Generally, these are the front-end gateways between the web application and the server, performing all the data exchange. Ensuring their security helps in keeping problems away, preventing them from affecting the application's functional features and data integrity.

Cloud Infrastructure Penetration Testing As many web applications are being hosted on cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, and Azure, cloud infrastructure penetration testing has also become a must. This would ensure that the configurations around cloud services are secure, and the cloud environment in which the application is hosted is safe from any potential breach.

In this manner, if an SMB covers those areas inside a penetration testing scope, it can gain so much effective protection for its assets, build trust for its users, and protect its brand from threats. Each unit of the scope focuses on a different aspect of security, which makes it exhaustive and effective for defense purposes.

When delving deep into the ways of penetration testing, one cannot go past distinctive ways to implement to secure your web applications. Basically, these two techniques are divided between both manual and automated testing, each offering its own purposes and advantages.

Manual Penetration Testing This is perhaps the traditional approach to penetration testing. At this level, cybersecurity professionals will take their time to comb through the interconnected systems in your application. Measurement against a broad number of threats and risks available with manual penetration testing may not be there with automated tools. After all, the whole idea of this kind of testing is undertakings that look to comprehensively observe the security of the systems by simulating attack scenarios that would be able to reveal potential vulnerabilities. Such kind of testing provides a complete interactive representation in understanding the security posture of the web application.

Automated Penetration Testing (DAST) Automated penetration testing, also dubbed as Dynamic Application Penetration testing provides a quick and convenient way. It's the act of using software tools to scan the systems for weaknesses. The major pro of these tools is that they keep regular security checks without a lot of human input. Automated tools quickly identify known vulnerabilities, which make this technique a really cost-effective complement to manual testing. Tools of this kind are also user-friendly and allow for setting up scans for anyone with little or no experience in the cybersecurity sector.

Both manual and automated penetration testing techniques therefore enjoy their own rightful place in any web application penetration testing strategy. Manual testing provides depth and understanding, while automated testing provides breadth and speed. Employing both methods in unison will yield the most thorough evaluation of security in your web application, making sure that you have a solid defense built out against both casual and motivated cyber threats.

Penetration testing for web applications is guided by a variety of comprehensive frameworks designed to ensure thorough and standardized security assessments. Here’s an overview of the most prominent frameworks used by penetration testers:

OWASP Web Security Testing Guide (WSTG) The OWASP WSTG is an extremely useful prime resource for web application developers and security professionals. It is a very detailed testing guide that is open source and based on methodologies that are explicitly designed for application security testing. Most significantly, the guide is updated continuously by a large, active, and vibrant community—perhaps one of the best sources for the most current security practices in use for web applications.

Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES) PTES is a well-designed approach to provide a line to procedures associated with effective penetration testing. It consists of seven detailed phases, from pre-engagement to reporting. Since it is the product of global information security practitioners, it is a defined and structured methodology created for the effective guidance through a penetration testing process.

PCI Penetration Testing Guide The PCI Penetration Testing Guide is specifically targeted at organizations that work with cardholder data and is considered one of the requirements within Requirement 11.3 of PCI DSS. PCI DSS requires that payment processes be penetrated on a regular basis to protect against data breaches and fraud.

Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM) Broadly, the OSSTMM is a peer-reviewed methodology that defines a standardized way of conducting security tests. It stresses the issue of correctness and the depth of security testing and provides metrics that score the security of systems under test in a comprehensive way.

SANS Top 25 The CWE/SANS TOP 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors is a sublist of the 25 most widespread and critical errors in software that, if used by an attacker, could result in serious vulnerabilities. This list can thus be used by developers and penetration testers to prioritize and address the most critical security flaws.

Web Application Security Consortium (WASC) The Web Application Security Consortium is a non-profit, international consortium of individuals and organizations who work together to develop, for free use, open-source security standards applicable to the World Wide Web. WASC's goal is to help to bring universally accepted best practices together, thereby enabling global web application security.

By these control frameworks, penetration testers can perform unbiased and effective security assessments to make sure that the web application is secure from the maximum possible range of threats. The frameworks provide the structure and guidance needed for systematically discovering vulnerabilities and securing web applications from potential attacks.

The value of penetration testing heavily depends on the capability and credential of the person conducting it. In a world full of certifications, it's necessary to separate the ones that are hard to get from the ones you can buy from the internet in order to give your penetration tester any meaning when they say they are certified. Some of the top respected certifications throughout the world in being practical and hands-on in the way they test your skills include the following:

OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) and OSWE (Offensive Security Web Expert): Two of the most respected certifications in the cybersecurity landscape are these Offensive Security certifications. OSCP emphasizes aggressive offensive penetration testing across a number of systems and networks. The test taker is required to actively attack and penetrate a number of live machines within a secured lab environment during the exam. OSWE is a certification that is specifically focused on advanced web application penetration testing skills.

Burp Suite Certified Practitioner: The course is for web and API security testing, with which one learns how to use Burp Suite, one of the most popular web application security testing tools in the market. In its certification, a participant demonstrates deeper knowledge with respect to the exploitation of web vulnerabilities.

SANS GPEN (GIAC Penetration Tester) and GWAPT (Web Application Penetration Tester): These are American-based certifications, two of the most respected around the world. These certifications provide you with the full understanding of the penetration testing methodologies and approach. While GPEN deals in general penetration testing, GWAPT is built specifically for web application vulnerabilities.

CREST Certified Tester (CRT) and CREST Certified Consultant (CCT): CREST certifications are particularly popular in the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia and are considered the gold standard in the industry. They entail extremely rigorous examinations and have a reputation that makes them the most practically focused certifications available for carrying out detailed penetration tests within the field.

As such, the credibility and quality of your security assessments increase significantly when you choose a penetration tester who possesses one or more of these qualifications. These qualifications do not only mean that the tester has a qualified level of knowledge but also that he is practically proficient at identifying and exploiting weaknesses in the security of systems or applications.

Upon use of a Web Application Penetration Testing Vendor, ensure that the testing they provide follows the relevant compliance requirements and security frameworks. In case it's part of some broader certification, such as ISO 27001, this alignment becomes indispensable. For the effectiveness of a penetration testing report, the methodology followed has to be in adherence to the standards necessary by these frameworks. Some of the important ones to keep in mind are:

ISSAF (Information Systems Security Assessment Framework) An end-to-end framework that gives guidelines for security testing and evaluation ensuring the potentials of vulnerabilities are covered as much as possible.

NIST—National Institute of Standards and Technology One of the most respectable and accepted widely throughout the world, which publishes guidelines that can aid organizations to better manage and lower their IT security risks; and how it defines the standards that have to be met for organizations and how regulatory controls have to protect infrastructure.

OWASP—Open Web Application Security Project An open-source project, which gives resources aimed at software security. Its guidelines are indispensable for web application security testing and have been accepted by all stakeholders as the best source of industry standard practice.

CIS—Center for Internet Security Globally recognized, CIS benchmarks and controls are the best practice standards for information security; used as a means of self-assessment to further harden systems in the prevailing threat environment.

PTES—Penetration Testing Execution Standard It is a standard that is chartered to give a comprehensive methodology to carry out penetration tests, from the pre-engagement phase to post-engagement.

OSSTMM (Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual) A peer-review methodology in conducting security tests, the OSSTMM focuses on the operational aspects of security and the metrics that can measure the effectiveness of these operations.

It is absolutely imperative that the methodology followed during penetration testing is met with these standards and, say most importantly, the maximum flexibility to comply with the specifics, like ISO 27001. A penetration test performed in accordance with these norms is not only a guarantee of high-level thoroughness but also strengthens the credibility of the test result for certification purposes. You might want to consider, therefore, that any vendor is somewhat familiar with these frameworks and actually practicing them in real life to safely carry out the testing results in a way that will meet your compliance and security.

It is very important that one understands in clear terms the nature of deliverables which will end up on their end by the service provider when acquiring the web application penetration testing service. In fact, deliverables will show the value of the testing and later guide your actions in boosting security. Here's a closer look at the usual components of a penetration testing deliverable package:

Penetration Testing Reports

The documents detail an overview of the testing methods, discovered vulnerabilities, and, finally, an analysis of the security posture of the web application. Reports should be clear, elaborate, and action-oriented.

Detailed Test Cases

General test cases, all test cases executed, and all outcomes—which are passed or failed and the line of source code tested—help to understand the areas more secure and those that are more vulnerable.

Reproduction Steps

This must specify the detailed steps to replicate the issue for each discovered vulnerability. This will help the developers to clarify and understand the vulnerability, to better equip these issues fixed.

Remediation Steps

A good penetration test report will identify problems and also provide detailed steps for remediation. It clearly identifies the elements that need to be fixed and gives guidelines on how to fix the identified vulnerabilities, tailored to issues and the specific environment where the application is functioning.

Proof of Vulnerabilities

A clear visual or video proof of the vulnerabilities will help one understand the practical implications of each vulnerability. This can take the form of screenshots, video records, or in any other manner demonstrating an exploit or an issue.

Remediation Consulting

The testing team, while giving detailed steps for remediation, also provides general consulting to help your team understand and make fixes. However, actual remediation should be the work of your internal team or a third party specialist.

Remediation Ownership

You might want to avail yourself of services some providers offer in which they themselves get more actively involved in the process of remediation, working closely with your developer and QA teams to assure vulnerabilities are indeed fixed and, in some cases, provide hands-on coding or system configuration.

Retest

Once the vulnerabilities are resolved, there is a mandatory need for multidimensional retesting to ensure that the fixes are effective and no new issues are added during the process. The retesting validates the improvements and actively closes the testing process loop.

Each of these deliverables is instrumental not only in pointing out the weaknesses but also in guiding and checking the improvements made in the respect due to the security of the application. In choosing a penetration testing vendor, one must ensure that this set is delivered in the report, as it can maximize the value and effectiveness of the test.

The timeframe for delivering a web application penetration testing report can vary significantly based on several factors:

Typically, you can expect the report to be delivered within two to four weeks from the start of testing. However, this is a general estimate, and you should discuss timelines with your vendor based on your specific requirements. It’s also important to factor in time for any preliminary meetings or preparations before the actual testing begins.

When setting timelines, it's also beneficial to plan for additional time post-delivery for reviewing the report, implementing remediation measures, and potentially retesting the application to confirm that vulnerabilities have been effectively addressed.

It’s worthwhile asking Sample reports and customer case studies before buying services or products from the Web Application Penetration testing vendors.

That’s it folks. Now, you know how to select a Web application penetration testing vendor. Alternatively, you can compare variety of Web application penetration testing vendors on Ofofo.