5 Signs It’s Time for A Web Application Penetration Test

by Ritika Singh on June 24, 2021

Penetration Testing is a potent tool in any organization’s security arsenal. By simulating real cyberattacks under secure conditions, pen-tests throw light on unknown vulnerabilities (including zero-days, logical vulnerabilities, and business logic errors). They enable businesses to understand the exploitability of vulnerabilities, test the strength of the security defenses, and thereon, fortify the security posture.

Read on to know when penetration testing is necessary.

5 Signs That It’s Time for Penetration Testing

Your System/ Service Is Going Live/ Into Production

IT/ development teams are often working under impossible deadlines and are forced to push out applications/ systems/ services without proper security assessments. When applications/ systems are new, they tend to have security loopholes and vulnerabilities in the security layer that penetration testing is equipped to detect.

Without pen tests, the organizations are leaving themselves open to a high risk of data breaches and infiltrated attacks. So, businesses must assess the security of their systems/ services pre-deployment.

Remember that penetration tests must be conducted right before the systems go live/ into production when it is no longer in the constant state of change. When tests are done too early in production, the systems and networks may continue to undergo changes. Security loopholes and weaknesses that arise after pen-testing may be overlooked.

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You Have Made Significant Changes to Infrastructure/ Web Applications

Significant changes to the infrastructure or web applications include:

installation of new software/ infrastructure/ applications
modifications to code
old software being decommissioned
new third-party services onboarded
new physical office sites being added to the network
physical office relocation
introduction of new IoT devices into the system
network equipment changes, etc.

Such major changes to the IT infrastructure create vulnerabilities that may be overlooked by automated scanners. With security penetration testing, organizations can identify any security loopholes or misconfigurations, or logical errors that may arise from such major changes.

Typically, organizations keep making rapid system, infrastructural and technological changes to be agile and keep pace with constantly evolving technology. Such rapid changes inadvertently create exploitable gaps and weaknesses in the IT infrastructure. Over the past year, however, the global pandemic has sent organizations into overdrive and has forced them to digitally transform themselves in full swing.

Several organizations plunged into remote working without formal policies. Organizations adopted all kinds of technology and software solutions to ensure that remote work went on smoothly without much research on vendors and their security posture. Employees are accessing sensitive data from personal devices on shared/ unsecured networks. Put together, organizations have exposed themselves to high risks of cyberattacks.

With penetration testing, organizations get full visibility into where the biggest threats lie. With these insights, they take necessary preventive measures. Organizations can focus on the formalization of reactive and stop-gap technology, making the pivot from successful tech implementation to ongoing security.

You Have Applied Security Patches

Security patches are fixes to already released software with an intent to fix errors/ vulnerabilities/ security loopholes. Since patch information is publicly available, attackers typically tend to read up on and find ways to breach the patches and the patched vulnerability.

While several organizations do not apply the patches, it is not uncommon for attackers to exploit patched vulnerabilities too. So, it is neither advisable to apply security patches across all devices the second it appears without considering its impact, nor it is wise to ignore security patches altogether.

Organizations must adopt a security-focused, strategic approach to security patches. They must test the patches in a secure environment before applying them across the entire IT environment. With web penetration testing, organizations can prioritize critical areas to patch and ensure that the patch is effective in securing the vulnerabilities.

You Have Modified Policies

Business, end-user, and information security policies affect the security posture of organizations. Information security policies form the core of functional security and define the scope and activities of the organization’s security management systems. Major changes in security policies affect the IT environment and thus, mandates thorough security penetration testing. They provide deep insights into the newly defined information security systems.

Changes in business policies and end-user policies may create vulnerabilities and logical flaws, which cannot be detected by scanning tools and simple vulnerability assessments. Pen-tests are vital to identify such misconfigurations and logical flaws.

Your Industry Is Being Regularly Targeted

If you have been getting alerts about crafty and sophisticated cyber-attacks targeting your industry, it is time to engage in security penetration testing. This could be because of technological or regulatory changes in the industry or other factors that are causing the attack surface to widen.

Conclusion

Perform pen-tests at least once a year and twice if you have undergone any major changes discussed in the article. Regular penetration testing by trusted security experts like Indusface empowers you to strengthen your security posture.