Web Application Penetration Assessment

Web App Penetration Assessment & Reporting

Your apps need security testing to find the security gaps in your apps. Web applications frequently store sensitive information and may even provide an external access point to your network. Our web application penetration testing services are designed to improve the security of your web applications through a comprehensive, highly-manual, risk-based approach to identifying critical vulnerabilities.

Web application penetration testing is designed to assess and test the state of your web-facing applications, and provide actionable remediation recommendations for enhancing your security to both your customers and users. This testing ensures that your applications will meet the security demands of your internal policies and customer assessment requirements. API testing can also be performed when required.

And at the end of the web app pen test process, you will receive a detailed report that clearly defines the results of the test.  The assessment and report are are designed to help businesses realize a resilient application that can withstand sophisticated cyber threats.  The Web App Penetration Assessment (WAPA) process and components involve the following:

  • Planning

The planning phase of Web Application Penetration Assessment (WAPA) process includes establishing Rules of Engagement, communicating about on- and off-limit IPs and applications (Scoping), the overall timeline of the web application penetration test, and whether or not the test will be performed using White, Gray, or Black Box methodologies.

  • Evaluation

Once the planning phase is complete, architecture mapping and a complete web application scan are performed. This is the first true step of the web application pen test and is the foundation of an efficient and ethical attack. It is important to note that the web application is not directly engaged (or attacked) during this phase.

  • Mapping

The mapping phase of the web application process takes place after reconnaissance and enables the ethical hacker to understand all facets of the target web application and associated infrastructure. During this phase, component relationships, logic flow, software, and versions are all examined. The tester will crawl the application(s) to identify its work flow, functionality and potential testing/injection points. Lastly, authentication mechanisms and session handling are examined to identify potential vulnerabilities.

  • Discovery

During the discovery phase of the web application penetration testing, the ethical hacker takes an in-depth look at the target application(s) to find any additional information and potential vulnerabilities. This phase focuses heavily on finding common applications, user interfaces, information leakage, authentication systems, and error messages–also known as fingerprinting. Once fingerprinting is concluded, a web application vulnerability scan is performed in order to verify potential vulnerabilities and exploits. It is important to note that all tools and scrips for the exploitation phase are prepared during this step. That being said, the discovery phase is still technically nothing more than an information gathering and attack preparation phase.

  • Exploitation

The exploitation phase of the web app pen test process is where all the information gathered, tools selected, and the scripts prepared are then used to exploit flaws that allow security controls to be circumvented. The success of this step is highly dependent on the previous steps. The WAPA uses manual verification and other techniques to check all potential exploits, and if necessary, retest to validate results. The purpose of this phase is to provide proofs of concept regarding findings identified during the Discovery Phase, identify false positives, and (if within scope) gain control of the application.

  • Reporting

Reporting  the final phase of the web application penetration testing process, to be the most crucial phase. We take great care to ensure that we effectively communicate the value of our service and findings as thoroughly as possible. Our main goal is to ensure that all information from the WAPA is clearly understood and that a roadmap toward remediation/mitigation is well defined. A comprehensive final report detailing all testing information along with an executive summary is securely delivered at the conclusion of this phase.