The boom of technological advancements has also resulted in data often being compromised, resulting in security becoming an important element for consideration for all mobile and web applications. This has made it necessary for security testing to be done for every software application to identify potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
Some of the vulnerabilities you
would want to address using software
security testing are:
●
Ineffective Session Termination
●
Buffer Overflow
●
Excessive Permissions and Privileges
●
Poor authentication and
authorization
●
SQL Injection
●
Malware
●
Weak server-side controls,
●
Cross-Site Scripting
●
Weak or broken encryption
●
Bad Data Storage Practice
●
Broken cryptography
●
Insufficient transport layer protection
So, what is software security testing?
Security testing is a type
of software testing that analyses if your software, mobile or web application,
has any weakness or is vulnerable to any potential security threats. The
testing is done to ensure that end-user data is saved securely within the
software and is protected from cybercriminals. It is also a way of ensuring
that the user’s confidential data stays confidential.
There are seven attributes that
companies providing security testing services follow for your software:
• Authorization
• Authentication
• Confidentiality
• Integrity
• Availability
• Resilience
• Non-repudiation
Categories of Security Testing
To understand which application security testing would be
apt for your software, you will need to know about the various categories of security testing services. Given below
are the four categories of security
testing:
Static Application Security Testing (SAST):
Also known as white box testing,
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
is an integral part of the Secure Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and identifies
the security loopholes in the application source code at the development phase.
Application security testing companies use
different tools to scan the software before compilation to help the developers
identify and fix bugs immediately.
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST):
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is used to identify weaknesses
and vulnerabilities during the pre-production stage. A security testing company will use either of the two methods of
DAST based on the need of the application:
●
Grey box testing
●
Black box testing
Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST):
Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) is DAST with an added layer of
Runtime Application Security Protection (RASP). This software security testing works within the application to analyse
codes and discover security vulnerabilities. Companies providing IAST security testing services use automated as
well as human testing and interact with the application functionality and help
developers fix vulnerabilities in real time.
Mobile Application Security Testing (MAST):
Finally, there is Mobile Application Security Testing (MAST),
which is done to protect users from cyber-attacks by securing mobile-based
applications from security breaches. The MAST includes authentication,
authorisation, data security vulnerabilities due to hacking as well as session
management.
Type of software
security testing services
●
Penetration
testing: Can be either Black Box Testing or White Box
Testing. This type of testing is done by analysing the network and/or the
system to protect unauthorised access to important data. Various malicious
techniques are used for evaluation.
●
Password
cracking: In this software
security testing, the system is
tested to identify weak passwords to ensure that users are using strong
passwords.
●
Vulnerability:
This security
testing is done with the purpose of identifying the weakest attributes in
the system which can provide access to malicious software by unauthorized
users. System vulnerability can occur due to reasons such as:
○
Presence of malicious code
○
Bug in software
Fixes
and Patches are used by developers to fix the vulnerabilities identified.
●
URL
Manipulation: URL Manipulation is one of the well-known ways of
hacking a website and this testing ensures that database records and other
vital information are not accessed by unauthorised users.
●
SQL
Injection: SQL Injection testing is used to ensure security
while the use of the input fields like text boxes, comments, etc. Special
characters are either skipped or managed from the input.
●
Cross-Site
Scripting (CSS): This testing checks for the vulnerability
that arises in a web application by including Javascript code and HTML into the
website pages.
Conclusion
Companies providing security testing services can help in
keeping the application as well as its user data safe and confidential.
Identify the type of testing that you need and engage an efficient software security testing partner to
help secure your application.