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Software security testing

What is Penetration Testing in Software Testing
Penetration Testing

What is Penetration Testing in Software Testing?

Imagine someone attempting to break into your home to test how secure it is. Now imagine your software, applications, and networks as that house. Penetration testing in software testing or pen testing, works similarly by hiring an ethical hacker who comes in (legally) to break in to find all the weaknesses before the bad guys do. It’s a business about staying one step ahead in the cybersecurity game. Penetration testing is a process in software testing that ensures the security of systems against cyber threats. It’s not just about the technical aspect but also more of a strategy to ensure continued trust and avert costly breaches. Let us explore what penetration testing is, the types, techniques, benefits, and how it is done. This article will reveal why pen testing is a cornerstone in modern cybersecurity practice. Penetration Testing: The Basics So what is penetration testing in softeware testing? In simple words, it’s a mock cyberattack. The objective is to find vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to gain unauthorized access to your software, network, or systems. It’s like running a fire drill, except this time, it’s hackers instead of flames. So why bother? Pen testing is recommended by cybersecurity experts. In fact, most cybersecurity experts and authorities recommend pen tests as a proactive security measure. For instance, in 2021, the U.S. federal government urged companies to use pen tests to defend against growing ransomware attacks. Not only big businesses need penetration testing; small businesses, startups, and even lone developers should. Cybercrime does not care if you are big or small. A single weakness can mean the difference between losing money, a reputation, or facing lawsuits. “Related Read: Software Penetration Testing: A Complete Guide How Does Penetration Testing Work? Penetration testing, more or less, is a detective story. This detective would be the ethical hacker who needs to find every one of those secret vulnerabilities. Now, here comes the plot. 1. Planning and Reconnaissance This is the reconnaissance phase. Here, testers research the target system—its architecture, technologies, and possible points of entry. It’s basically casing a joint before a heist. The more information testers have about the system, the better their chances of identifying vulnerabilities. 2. Scanning After this, scanning takes place whereby automated tools scan the system to look for vulnerabilities. This could include: Scanners provide testers with a road map of what can be identified. Scanners check everything: open ports, software versions for known vulnerabilities, etc.  3. Exploitation This is where things get interesting. Testers look for vulnerabilities as a hacker would, trying to inject bad code, bypass authentications, and even gain access to sensitive data. This test looks at the possibility of exploitation. 4. Reporting Finally, the tester gathers his or her pentesting report in software testing. These are the results that contain the following: The report becomes a guide for the organization on what to focus on and fix. 5. Retesting After patching the vulnerabilities, it is good to retest. You wouldn’t fix a broken lock without checking that it works, would you? Retesting ensures that the applied fixes are effective and have not introduced new vulnerabilities.   Latest Penetration Testing Report Download Penetration Testing Methodology 1. Black Box Testing This is an approach where the tester is not aware of the system or network and simulates how an external attacker would feel to test the ability of an organization to identify and react to threats. 2. White Box Testing Here, the tester will have full knowledge of the organization’s IT infrastructure, source code, architecture diagrams, and network configurations. This approach is best suited for rigorous testing of complex systems. 3. Gray Box Testing This method is a mix of black-and-white box testing where the tester has partial knowledge of the system. This method could balance efficiency with reality. 4. Continuous Penetration Testing Instead of doing frequent testing, this approach does continuous testing and assessment of the changing threats in real-time. Continuous testing is quite efficient in dynamic environments like cloud and DevOps pipelines. Each of these types of testing has a purpose and is selected based on the needs of the organization and the nature of the system being tested. Common Techniques Used in Penetration Testing Pen testers have a bag full of tricks for unearthing vulnerabilities. The customized type of penetration tests in Software security testing that interest various organizations’ IT systems may be carried out. The majority types are the following: 1. Network Penetration Testing It operates on internal and external networks and is applied to detect the vulnerability of open ports, protocols, and systems without a patch-up. It is highly sensitive to unauthorized access to classified data. 2. Web Application Penetration Testing The scanning of web applications against SQL injection, XSS, and failure in terms of authentication and session management are considered general weaknesses. 3. Mobile Application Penetration Testing It involves vulnerabilities in data, weak encryption, insecure APIs, and weak session handling within applications. 4. Social Engineering Penetration Testing This tests the human element of cybersecurity; it utilizes phishing attacks, pretexting, and other means of manipulation to check a person’s level of awareness. 5. Cloud penetration testing They create their cloud-based testing methodology that emerges due to misconfiguration, data storage that is not secured, and a lack of proper access controls. Such issues are becoming more and more critical with a higher adoption rate of clouds. 6. IoT and OT Penetration Testing This malware attacks the IoT devices along with the OT systems that run parallelly with vulnerabilities such as unsecured firmware, default weak credentials, and unencrypted communication. 7. Physical Penetration Testing This deals with the assessment of whether the access of data centers, server rooms, and other restricted facilities poses risks to potential unauthorized access in physical security controls. Each of these attacks is designed to mimic a real attack scenario so that organizations realize where their defenses break down. Tools of the Trade Pen testers need the most powerful tools for the job. Some of the most popular ones include the

What is Security Testing and Why is it Important for Organizations
Cyber Crime

What is Security Testing and Why is it Important for Businesses?

As firms expand into the digital realm, they may confront unexpected risks. Threat actors will stop at nothing to make their moves, whether monetary, political, or social. It is increasingly important for organizations to pay attention to their cybersecurity posture and take proactive actions such as security testing to protect their most valuable digital assets from cybercriminals.  For example, there were around 800 data breaches in 2023, involving more than 692,097,913 records, and Twitter compromised more than 220 million breached records (the greatest number of the year thus far).  It just demonstrates that making cybersecurity a secondary priority will no longer suffice. It emphasizes the need for security testing to protect information. Let’s look at security testing and why practically every organization requires it. Security Testing: A Brief Overview Security testing determines if the software is subject to cyber assaults and assesses how malicious or unexpected inputs affect its functioning. It demonstrates that systems and information are secure and dependable and do not accept illegal inputs. Security testing in cyber security is an essential aspect of application testing focused on identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities in an application. It ensures the application is secure from cyber attacks, unauthorized access, and data breaches.  This testing is a form of non-functional testing. In contrast to functional testing, which focuses on whether the program’s functionalities perform properly (“what” the software does), non-functional testing focuses on whether the application is built and configured appropriately (“how” it does it).  The Goals of Security Testing Identify Assets: These are the things that must be protected, such as applications and business infrastructure.  Recognize Vulnerabilities: These are the behaviors that can damage an asset or weaknesses in one or more assets that attackers can exploit.  Identify Risk: Security testing is designed to assess the likelihood that certain threats or vulnerabilities will harm the organization. Risk is assessed by determining the degree of a vulnerability or threat and the likelihood and consequences of exploitation.  Remediate Them: Security testing is more than simply a passive assessment of assets. It gives practical instructions for resolving detected vulnerabilities and can verify that they have been effectively repaired. Fundamentals of Security Testing: Security testing ensures that an organization’s systems, applications, and data adhere to the following security principles: Confidentiality: This entails limiting access to sensitive information controlled by a system.  Integrity: This entails ensuring that data is consistent, accurate, and trustworthy throughout its lifespan and cannot be altered by unauthorized parties.  Authentication: It is the process of protecting sensitive systems or data by verifying the identity of the person accessing them.  Authorization: It ensures that sensitive systems or data are only accessed by authorized individuals based on their roles or permissions.  Availability: It ensures that key systems or data are available to users when needed.  Non-repudiation: This assures that data communicated or received cannot be rejected by sharing authentication information and a verifiable time stamp. Are you a business developing applications and need to secure them ASAP? This is the end of your search. Qualysec’s security expert consultants will teach you about security testing and how you can do it efficiently with the help of professionals. Talk to our Cybersecurity Expert to discuss your specific needs and how we can help your business. Schedule a Call Why Businesses Need to Do Cyber Security Testing? A comprehensive cyber security testing framework addresses validation at all tiers of an application. It begins with examining and evaluating the application’s infrastructure security before moving on to the network, database, and application exposure levels. Here are a few reasons why it’s important for businesses: 1. Hackers are Getting Advanced Technological breakthroughs have significantly impacted how individuals live, and businesses operate. However, malevolent groups have adapted to the changes, posing a threat to the commercial landscape’s cybersecurity. Despite advancements and advances in cybersecurity, hackers continue to adapt and develop new tactics to circumvent them. This has prompted businesses to implement tougher security measures in their business apps, as this is where most vulnerabilities may be exploited. 2. Improve Client Trust and Confidence Consumers are increasingly entrusting their sensitive data to their preferred retailers. Unfortunately, this exposes businesses to data breaches and other cyber dangers. In reality, about 1,243 security incidents compromised 5.1 billion pieces of information in 2021. If your organization lacks a strong cybersecurity system, customers may be unwilling to provide you with critical information. Application security helps reduce your clients’ concerns by ensuring you have taken the necessary precautions to safeguard their data. 3. Keeps your Firm Compliant with Security Standards Aside from creating client trust and confidence, application security testing allows you to remain compliant with security standards. Governments have been harsher in enforcing cybersecurity legislation such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and others, particularly for firms that handle sensitive consumer data. Integrating app security into your workflow is critical since failing to do so may expose your firm to cyber assaults. App security can also help you avoid penalties and costs for failing to fulfill security regulations. 4. Protect your Business from Cyber Threats Markets and sectors are constantly changing as the new digital era progresses. Today, internet transactions have become the standard, making it easier to collect client information. However, businesses and enterprises have grown increasingly vulnerable to dangerous hackers continually adapting to cybersecurity advancements. As a result, firms must have strong security testing strategies, including those for the commercial apps they utilize. 5. Identify Hidden Weaknesses Before Crooks Do Finding and exploiting previously unknown security holes before attackers can is critical for ensuring safety, which is why security updates are so prevalent in current apps. Security penetration testing can expose flaws in cybersecurity measures that were previously missed. A penetration test focuses on what is most likely to be exploited, allowing you to prioritize risk and allocate resources more efficiently. You’ll read more about pentesting in the below section. Read More: Security Testing vs Pen Testing The Key Differences What are the Types of Security Testing?  Each form of security testing has a distinct strategy for detecting and mitigating possible risks. By concentrating on continuous security testing, businesses may maintain an ongoing awareness of their

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Pabitra Kumar Sahoo

Pabitra Kumar Sahoo

COO & Cybersecurity Expert

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Pabitra Kumar Sahoo

Pabitra Kumar Sahoo

COO & Cybersecurity Expert