Major Steps to perform for Security Testing and its need for web application

22 November 2021

The software industry has a huge presence in almost every industry. Most companies use IT solutions and web-based systems to manage and maintain their business. Banking, payments, stocks, buying and selling and many other functions are performed digitally during these times.

With the rise of digital commerce, security testing has become very important.

Important steps for performing security testing

• Testing the Protection Level of Data: One should test the database for all kinds of critical data such as user account, passwords, billing etc. The data transmission should be encrypted.
  • The security of data depends on:
    • Data visibility: It denotes how much data is visible to users.
    • Data storage: It includes database security.
• Accessibility Testing: Access security is the number one priority to keep businesses and customers safe. Accessibility Testing includes authentication and authorization. In authentication one can decide who can get the access and in authorization one can decide how much accessibility is allowed to an authenticated user. It ensures that the data remains safe from both internal and external breaches. For performing the accessibility testing, it is required to test the roles and responsibilities of users.
• Test For Malicious Script: Hackers use XSS and SQL injection to hack websites. A malicious script is injected into the site’s system that allows a hacker to control or manipulate a hacked website.
  The tester can check the maximum allowable length of the input fields. This restriction does not allow the hacker to ingest malicious scripts.
• Test The Access Points: In today’s market, collaboration is a way of doing business. For example, a stock trading application should provide consistent access to the latest data for users and new visitors. But this open access also carries the risk of unwanted intrusion.
  To protect against such attacks, a tester can monitor the application entry points. A tester should ensure that all the access requests come from reliable IPs or applications. Otherwise, the app system should have the capacity to deny these requests.
• Session Management Testing: Session on the web includes the response transactions between the web server and the browser any user is using.
  Session management testing includes many functions, such as session expiration after a certain period of inactivity, maximum end duration, session end time after a user logs out, and so on.

• Test The Error Handling: Testing the different error codes is also necessary.This includes the error codes like 408, 400, 404, etc.
  The tester can perform some actions to open such pages and ensure that the page displayed does not contain critical information. This helps to ensure that all the information on the error pages is secure and does not help hackers.

• Test For Other Functionalities: Other features to try include file downloading and payment. These characteristics require careful consideration.

Malicious files must be restricted. The tester must also check for payment vulnerabilities, such as buffer overflows, insecure storage, password guessing, and other issues.

Main areas of security testing

• System software security: In it, we analyze application vulnerabilities based on various software such as operating system, database system, etc.

• Network security: It looks at network structure weaknesses such as policies and resources.

• Server-side application security: One should do server-side application security to ensure that server encryption and related tools are adequate to protect the software from interference.

• Client-side application security: In it, it is ensured that any intruders cannot cannot work with a browser or a tool used by customers.

Need of Security Testing for Web Application

Currently, web applications are growing daily and most web applications are at risk. Below are the most common vulnerabilities in web applications:

• Client-side attacks: A client-side attack means that an illegal remote code is being executed in a web application. And the data spoofing takes place in an area where the user believes that certain data running in the web application is valid and not from an external source.

• Authentication: In it, authentication covers outbreaks that are targeted to web application methods to authenticate a user identity if a user’s account identity is stolen. Incomplete authentication can allow a hacker to gain access to features or sensitive information without doing proper authentication.For example, a brute force attack, the primary target of a brute force attack, is access to a web application. Here, intruders will repeatedly try a number of usernames and passwords until they can get in, as this is the most accurate way to block brute force attacks. After all, when they try all the numbers entered with a wrong password, the account will be locked automatically.

• Authorization: Authorization occurs when an intruder illegally obtains sensitive information from the web application.
  And if intruders manage to gain access, they can download sensitive data and install malware on the server.

• Command execution: Command execution is used when malicious attackers control the web application.

• Logical attacks: Logical attacks are used when DoS (denial of service) is broken, which prevents a web application from supporting regular action by customers and also prevents the use of the application.

• Information disclosure: Information disclosure is used to expose sensitive data to hackers. This is where information leakage occurs when a web application reveals sensitive data, such as error messages or developer comments, that could help the attacker to exploit the system.

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