Penetration Testing

An external web application penetration test is a type of security testing used to identify security vulnerabilities in web applications from an external perspective. It involves attacking the application and API’s from the outside in both unauthenticated and authenticated postures by simulating real-world attacks that an intruder may use, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and other attack techniques. The goal of an external web application penetration test is to find any potential security weaknesses that could be exploited by an attacker, and to provide recommendations on how to fix them.

An external web application penetration test is not a vulnerability scan or an automated security analysis. It is a manual testing process that involves a simulated attack on a web application in order to identify security weaknesses and potential points of exploitation.

In addition to penetration testing, we are steeped in years of internal and external security and compliance consulting Our background and experience allows us to think outside the box of traditional annual testing and instead focus on real risks allowing us to recommend and structure testing that focuses on real risk, and align frequency and costs to get the best overall security-compliance-budget balance.

Pentest costs are based on a combination of the size of your application and infrastructure, age and complexity of the application, frequency of testing, and overall security and/or compliance goals.  A great place to start is our “lay of the land” test which starts at $2,800 and provides an introductory pentest, a clear understanding of your application security, a roadmap for future testing, and meets minimum SOC 2 requirements.

1. Identify and Gather Information: Identifying the target and gathering the necessary information about the target system is the first step in a web application penetration test. This includes things such as the type of web application, the web server and framework, the client-side technologies, and the URLs for the application. 
2. Analyze the Architecture: This involves analyzing the architecture of the web application to identify potential attack vectors, such as authentication and authorization mechanisms. 
3. Map Application Functionality: This involves mapping out the application’s functionality to understand how it works and what its purpose is. 
4. Perform Vulnerability Scans: This involves using automated vulnerability scanners to identify potential vulnerabilities in the application. 
5. Perform Manual Testing: This involves manually testing the application to identify potential vulnerabilities and exploits.
   
6. Report and Remediate: This involves reporting the findings of the penetration test and working with the development team to remediate any vulnerabilities.