Why are Static Application Testing and Application Pen Testing Important?

Author: James Danel

A startling report suggests that cybercrime is expected to cost the world USD 11.4 million every minute in 2021 (Source: Cybersecurity Ventures). Also, the World Economic Forum in its Global Risks Report 2020 ranks cyberattacks at the top of the global risks caused by human actions. These two reports highlight how threat actors continue to exploit the vulnerabilities of digital ecosystems.

Enterprises need to invest more in upgrading their digital security apparatus including executing penetration testing. It is important as users work on diverse digital environments comprising applications from different vendors and devices with varying configurations. Further, in the Agile-DevOps driven environments where enterprises are under pressure to integrate new features and functionalities to the software applications, it is a challenge to incorporate application security testing at every step of the way.

Let us discuss the ways application security testing can be conducted by enterprises and in the process, they can identify and fix any latent vulnerabilities. There are two ways to go about securing the applications and preventing threat actors from exploiting their weaknesses. These include static application testing and application penetration testing.

To prevent threat actors from exploiting the inherent vulnerabilities within applications and compromising confidential data, enterprises can adopt two approaches for application security testing – Static Application Testing and Penetration Testing.

Static Application Testing

Static Application Testing is a white-box testing method to identify any potential security vulnerabilities by assessing the application’s binaries, source code, and byte code. Here, testing is performed on a static code, that is, when the application is not running, and testers have access to the code. In this type of testing, the in-house code of an application is scanned to detect any inherent security-related risks, which could lead to an attack from a threat actor. Here, Static Application Security Test (SAST) tools are used to inspect abnormalities based on factors like code, availability, and processes.

Importance of SAST

This testing process helps developers to continuously monitor the code for any abnormality. With incremental scanning of the code, specific areas or parts of the code, especially those that have been changed – are tested.

Besides facilitating quick identification and remediation of security risks in the code, SAST can save time and effort from both developers and testers. The benefits of SAST are:

  • Shift-left security testing: Validating the code for security-related risks during the early phase of development can lead to better mitigation of threats and reduction in remediation costs later. By evaluating both server-side and client-side vulnerabilities, SAST can help identify threats like SQL injection, buffer overflows, cross-site scripting, and others.

  • Secure coding: Secure coding practices must be followed to prevent the application from becoming an easy target of hackers. Whether the application runs on embedded systems, desktops, mobile devices, or websites, SAST ensures the code’s compliance with coding standards like CERT before the same is released into the production environment.

  • Speed and accuracy: The use of SAST tools can significantly improve the speed and accuracy of a code review. The tools can scan millions of lines of code in a matter of minutes and detect vulnerabilities that can be fixed.

Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing comprises of simulating multi-pronged attacks on the applications using techniques that real hackers are expected to use. In this type of testing, the path of least resistance is identified with testers being given limited information that is available to the users of the application. This replicates a real-world attack scenario and predicts the kind and degree of damage that certain vulnerabilities can incur. Here, testers triage the security weaknesses in the application for developers to act upon urgently. Penetrating testing is an effective tool in the armory of testers to strengthen the code.

Importance of Software Penetration Testing

Also called pen testing, ethical hacking, or white-hat hacking, this form of security assessment tests a software application (network and computer system as well) to find security risks, which an attacker can exploit. It covers a wide gamut of testing approaches from simple web application penetration testing to full-scale penetration testing called Red Teaming.

The major areas where software penetration testing can make an impact are:

  • Risk assessment: Every vulnerability or weakness in the application can impact your IT infrastructure. With penetration testing services, any inherent risks in the application can be exposed and mitigated.

  • Regulatory compliance: Penetration testing can assess the impact of not adhering to the regulatory standards and data privacy laws. The impact can be harsh in terms of hefty fines, losing brand equity, filing lawsuits, losing the operating license, or even receiving a jail sentence.

  • Reputation: In the event of a data breach, customer confidence in a company can take a beating leading to a loss in revenue and profitability. Software penetration testing can identify the risks and help to mitigate the same thereby pre-empting cyber-attacks. Thus, when the application is considered secure, the reputation of the brand increases manifold.

Conclusion

Both SAST and pen testing are important approaches in the hands of testers to validate an application against the possibility of cyberattacks. These should be performed with alarming regularity to ensure the application under development is free from all glitches and vulnerabilities.