Introduction
The Internet, or “World Wide Web” has become a crucial part of many people’s lives. Millions of organizations now rely on the web to run their online businesses and websites. Online transactions that happen on websites is the most crucial element that every single website owner should consider securing. For such online businesses, especially those in the e-commerce field, Web Security Testing is an integral part of website maintenance that can take care of securing customer data on your platform.
In this guide, we will explore Web Security in detail and provide you with the information that you need to do your own Web Security tests on your company’s website.
What is Web Security Testing?
Web security testing is an important process of testing a website that can be used to ensure web application’s safety against cyber attacks. A web security test will look for any vulnerabilities in your website, and it will inform you of possible exploits or issues. We can then remedy the situation before someone successfully exploits and hijacks them.
Why is Web Security Testing Important?
Web security testing is a crucial part of every organization’s cybersecurity strategy. A comprehensive test done by expert security engineers or ethical hackers can strengthen the security posture of any organization’s internet-facing assets and can protect it against the wide range of cyber attacks and hacking attempts. Cyber attacks have been on the rise, with automated bots constantly attempting to exploit weaknesses in a website.
Website security testing helps organizations with protecting their website from Google blacklist, SEO spam, website redirection hacks, and many other malware implants and hacking attempts.
Did you know that API security and typical web application security have significant differences? A lack of understanding of those differences is dangerous. Let’s look at the distinctions and why API security should be treated differently from web application security in general.
| Traditional Web Security | API security |
|---|---|
| – A “castle and moat” strategy is employed | – There are several holes in the castle, and there is no moat |
| – Incoming requests will follow well-defined, generally static protocols | – The forms of incoming requests might vary regularly |
| – Clients will use a web browser | – Clients are unlikely to use a web browser |
| – Attacks will be identified by looking at the requests. | – Attacks may or may not be evident in the incoming requests. |
How to Perform Web Security Testing?
The best way to know how secure your web applications are, is by performing tests against them with automated and manual security testing tools. The best thing about these types of tools and software programs is that they automatically scan websites for known loopholes without human error. If something were missed or not detected then there would certainly be a higher risk factor involved when using this method alone.
It doesn’t matter what web security testing tools you use, web applications should be tested at least once a month. There are many different areas of web security to test for when it comes to web services and website hosting in general. Most web service providers provide their own dedicated software programs that check for vulnerabilities within your site’s information processing system. However, these tests may not always cover everything that could pose a possible threat or exploit because there is no one single program out there right now that can do all the jobs required by web hosts and companies alike.
Further, the Web application vulnerability scanners will automatically scan websites for known issues without human error involved. If something were missed then this would certainly lead to higher risk factors. These web security software will identify any web application vulnerabilities and exploits that may be present.
Hence it’s important to run web tests on a regular basis in order to prevent possible cyber-attacks from occurring against your company or website.
Different Classes Of Web Security Testing
There are three main classes of web security testing:
- Black-box web security testing is when you have no prior knowledge about the target web application; you just know what type of information processing system is running behind that domain name (for example Linux, Windows). With such limited details available, most automated scanners like Acunetix WVS can easily find out which directories exist within the server space with little effort.
- White-box web security testing is when you have full access to the web application source code as well as all of its components and underlying elements.
- Gray-box web security testing falls somewhere between black and white, with some knowledge about your target web app’s environment (you may know what type of hosting server it resides on for example).
What Are Some Web Security Testing Methodologies?
There are many different methodologies that can be used, in order to beef up security for your site. Here are some of them:
- Code Review: This web security testing method is highly effective in uncovering web app vulnerabilities by reviewing web application source code to identify any coding errors or other types of problems that exist within the web service.
- Vulnerability Analysis: Vulnerability analysis involves scanning web applications with automated tools for known exploits that pose a potential threat. It then uses this information to ensure the web application is safe before putting it online.
- Penetration Test: A penetration test will provide a good indication of how vulnerable an existing system or website might be against possible attacks by hackers looking to exploit vulnerabilities within their information processing systems so they can gain unauthorized access.
Conclusion:
With web application vulnerabilities on the rise, it’s important to ensure your web service is free from any possible exploits that may lead to a cyber-attack in the future. Web Security testing is the process of evaluating a website’s protection against external and internal threats.
This includes examining how secure your site is, as well as making sure that it follows best practices to stay protected. To do this effectively, you need an accurate understanding of what web security testing entails and its importance for any business with an online presence.
