When is a Penetration Test Required?

1. For every new project that has not yet been tested previously
2. Whenever an existing project has new dynamic code added or an alteration on existing functionality, e.g:
   • a new input field.
   • an alteration on the way an input field is handled

When is a Penetration Test Not Required?

1. For existing projects that with new minor static alterations, e.g:
   • Changing some existing written content on the web application
   • Changing a title from H1 to H2

Penetration Testing Process

When a project is close to completion delivery managers will need to liase with the security team to arrange a penetration test.

DM’s will need to fill out the scoping document which can be found at the following links:

1. Web application assessments
2. API assessments

Should the team require any clarification with regard to the content of the scoping form or need to confirm scope they can contact the security team for assisstance.

Once the scoping forms have been returned the security team may arrange for a walkthrough of the product to clarify scope.

When testing is complete the the delivery manager will receive an encrypted penetration testing report, which can then be distributed to their team as they see fit.

Types of Penetration Testing

• Web Application
• API
• Network

Tools Used For Penetration Testing

Typical tools used when conducting a penetration test are:

• BurpSuite (Web application)
• Nikto (Web Server)
• GoBuster, Dirbuster, Dirb (Web application directory brute forcing)
• Nessus (Network with some web app scannning functionality)

OWASP Top Ten Web Application Security Risks

1. Injection. Injection flaws, such as SQL, NoSQL, OS, and LDAP injection, occur when untrusted data is sent to an interpreter as part of a command or query. The attacker’s hostile data can trick the interpreter into executing unintended commands or accessing data without proper authorization.
2. Broken Authentication. Application functions related to authentication and session management are often implemented incorrectly, allowing attackers to compromise passwords, keys, or session tokens, or to exploit other implementation flaws to assume other users’ identities temporarily or permanently.
3. Sensitive Data Exposure. Many web applications and APIs do not properly protect sensitive data, such as financial, healthcare, and PII. Attackers may steal or modify such weakly protected data to conduct credit card fraud, identity theft, or other crimes. Sensitive data may be compromised without extra protection, such as encryption at rest or in transit, and requires special precautions when exchanged with the browser.
4. XML External Entities (XXE). Many older or poorly configured XML processors evaluate external entity references within XML documents. External entities can be used to disclose internal files using the file URI handler, internal file shares, internal port scanning, remote code execution, and denial of service attacks.
5. Broken Access Control. Restrictions on what authenticated users are allowed to do are often not properly enforced. Attackers can exploit these flaws to access unauthorized functionality and/or data, such as access other users’ accounts, view sensitive files, modify other users’ data, change access rights, etc.
6. Security Misconfiguration. Security misconfiguration is the most commonly seen issue. This is commonly a result of insecure default configurations, incomplete or ad hoc configurations, open cloud storage, misconfigured HTTP headers, and verbose error messages containing sensitive information. Not only must all operating systems, frameworks, libraries, and applications be securely configured, but they must be patched/upgraded in a timely fashion.
7. Cross-Site Scripting XSS. XSS flaws occur whenever an application includes untrusted data in a new web page without proper validation or escaping, or updates an existing web page with user-supplied data using a browser API that can create HTML or JavaScript. XSS allows attackers to execute scripts in the victim’s browser which can hijack user sessions, deface web sites, or redirect the user to malicious sites.
8. Insecure Deserialization. Insecure deserialization often leads to remote code execution. Even if deserialization flaws do not result in remote code execution, they can be used to perform attacks, including replay attacks, injection attacks, and privilege escalation attacks.
9. Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities. Components, such as libraries, frameworks, and other software modules, run with the same privileges as the application. If a vulnerable component is exploited, such an attack can facilitate serious data loss or server takeover. Applications and APIs using components with known vulnerabilities may undermine application defenses and enable various attacks and impacts.
10. Insufficient Logging & Monitoring. Insufficient logging and monitoring, coupled with missing or ineffective integration with incident response, allows attackers to further attack systems, maintain persistence, pivot to more systems, and tamper, extract, or destroy data. Most breach studies show time to detect a breach is over 200 days, typically detected by external parties rather than internal processes or monitoring.

OWASP Secure Coding Guidelines

Please see the OWASP Secure Coding Practices-Quick Reference Guide