Penetration Testing Trends You Need To Get Behind

To say that the internet serves as the backbone of any business wouldn’t be an understatement. Almost every company’s data is saved on cloud backup. Hundreds of online transactions are made every day. Millions of orders are placed online.

While there may be many upsides of technology, a prominent downside is the risk of cybercrimes. Cybercrimes are a major concern for businesses that operate online.

The Cyber Security Review suggested that the Australian economy loses $1 billion to cybercrimes annually.

According to Cyber Security Survey conducted by Norton in 2017, 1 in 4 small businesses were victim to cyber-attacks in Australia.

The rising risk of security breach has encouraged the use of penetration testing service. Almost every company undergoes network and web security assessment to eliminate possible loopholes in their network infrastructure.

While penetration testing is becoming a common practice, here are a few trends that every company should follow.

1. Examination after Every Change



It is important to analyse every change introduced in the network security or the products, to ensure the provision of top-quality service with no risk of security breach. Audits should be conducted on daily basis to secure internet data against hacking attempts.

2. Penetration Testing on a Timely Basis

Conducting penetration testing after fixed intervals helps in maintaining an impenetrable network. A minor flaw can lead to a major cyber-attack when it comes to network security. Your minor negligence can cost you millions of dollars.

PCI DSS requires an analysis of potential vulnerabilities and threats on annual basis.

3. Source code Assessment

Penetration testing is also concerned with the analysis of code to distinguish vulnerabilities and identify the areas that need improvement.

Static code analysis identifies potential risks at a much faster rate than Dynamic code analysis by implementing smart analysis algorithms.

4. Deployment of Firewalls

An additional security measure against cyber-attacks is the deployment of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect applications against online malware and suspicious traffic.

Penetration testing service focuses on implementing WAF as an additional security measure, especially in insurance and banking industries.

Lean Security strives to provide top-notch services when it comes to securing your business’s network. We provide top of the line security services for websites and mobile applications to the international business community.

We assist you in improving your system security by conducting a web service penetration test, source code assessment, cloud WAF managed service, and external network penetration tests.

5 Ways Penetration Testing Can Help Your Business

The era of technology has contributed in expanding the business via web and mobile applications. A company operating in one corner of the world can deal with a global pool of customers.

While the internet has turned out to be a tech miracle, there is always another side of the story. The increasing use of the internet has resulted in inflated cyber crime rates as well.

A survey report produced by the ACCC concluded that 21 businesses suffered from a financial setback of $1.7 million due to cyber attacks in 2016. If you are a company operating via the internet, it is important to ensure your business security by conducting penetration tests.

Here is how penetration testing can help your business.

1. Strengthens Your Business

Penetration testing can identify loopholes in your business’s network. These loopholes can provide a major advantage to hackers while attacking your system.

With penetration testing, you can evaluate potential vulnerabilities in your network infrastructure and can take necessary measures to strengthen the system.

2. Saves you from Fines

Your organization needs to comply with the standards declared by HIPAA, FISMA, ISO 27001, or the PCI DSS. As per standards of the PCI DSS, it is mandatory for a company to conduct annual penetration tests. Conducting penetration testing in your company can save your business from any fines due to non-compliance.

3. Creates Credible Image

It takes only one moment of negligence for a hacker to break into your system. A business that becomes a victim of cyber attack loses its reputation. Penetration testing can eliminate these issues beforehand by ensuring your security system is up-to-date against potential threats.

4. Eliminates Financial Risk

A cyber attack does not only result in file theft and security breach, but hackers also demand large sums of money in some instances. It is therefore important for a business to invest in penetration testing in order to avoid investing huge chunks of money in the name of cyber attacks.

5. Prevents Data Theft

Business data contains crucial information regarding revenue, employees, and customers. No business can afford such data theft. Penetration testing secures your business information and eradicates risk.

If you’re looking for a penetration testing service for your business, get in touch with us today. We conduct external network penetration tests, web application penetration test, web services penetration test, IoT assessment, mobile application penetration test, and source code assessment to ensure your system has no unnoticed vulnerabilities.

Why Timely Data Breach Detection Is Key

The process of data breach detection involves collecting, analyzing and interpreting incoming web traffic to spot potential network threats to confidential company and client data.

It should be your first priority to protect your internal network from attack by malicious hackers. These forces waste no time in accessing sensitive data and misusing it for profit.

Unfortunately, attacks on businesses are well-planned and executed by experienced cyber criminals. Companies that amass valuable data have a responsibility to hire professionals for tight data security.

To protect your stakeholders and yourself, ensure timely data breach detection.

Here we will discuss how early data breach detection can help you save precious company information from falling into the wrong hands.

Identify Areas of Compromised Security

Compromised user credentials were the primary sources of most cyber attacks on Australian companies in 2018. There are several indicators of such a security issue which are identified by an efficient data breach detection program.

Database assets and user authentication logs are components that are typically monitored by detection technologies like defender applications. They send out notifications when suspicious activity is identified such as matching profiles of DDoS attacks or system modifications from unknown sources.

Detect Other Loopholes



Once your defence software successfully spots attacks it can be programmed to detect the following data-compromising loopholes:

· Privileged accounts or unexplained changes to login procedures

· Remote logins

· Duplicate or after-hours login sessions

· Several password resets or lockouts

· Irregular activity which is unusual for legitimate traffic

The concerned managers are alerted if any threats are detected to the data or network intelligence. This step can significantly help in preventing an intrusion.

Anticipate Incoming Attacks

Hackers usually mark their target by remotely indentifying data assets of value. This information is about any internal vulnerability like gaps in the firewall which make data theft easy.

By using knowledge about this kind of passive threat, the security team can narrow down the means of the actual attack. It can then successfully anticipate future attacks.

With early data breach detection your company can take appropriate measures before significant damage is done or trade secrets are leaked. It’s important to leverage professional services offered by Lean Security to guard your data privacy from hackers.

We offer a range of security testing services like advanced web security testing and internal vulnerability scanning services.

Call us at +61 (0) 2 8231 6635 to learn how you can benefit from our services.

Attention App Developers: Protect Your Source Code!

Software developers are faced with growing security concerns when it comes to the source codes powering their applications for users around the globe. Malware and persistent hackers are constant threats in today’s age and this is why special attention must be dedicated to security while developing mobile applications.

The chances of your application coming under attack are higher than ever because of the ease of widespread accessibility to sensitive company and customer data when companies use a sub-standard security program.

This is why app developers are called to protect their source code against malicious forces if they aren’t already.

This post will discuss how to protect your application’s source code from potential threats.

#1—Restrict Access

 This is one of the easiest yet effective ways to keep your source code from getting into the wrong hands. Simply restrict which team members can gain access to it.

Apart from high-level personnel with hands-on use of the code, there aren’t a lot of people who will be working with your code. Even for those that do, it’s best to implement a two-factor authentication to stop suspicious characters to finding their way to your application’s source code.

#2—Encryption and Monitoring

On the programming side of things, an app’s source code is the developers’ most prized possession. So ensure that the program has the ability to encrypt relevant data in storage as well as during transit.

Also monitor the data round the clock to be alerted at once if any suspicious activity is detected. This way you’ll be able to quickly track the threat and take appropriate action to limit, reverse or ideally, prevent the damage.

#3—Copyright and Patents

Lapses in copyright policies are among the biggest causes of businesses failing to protect their source code before it’s too late.

If you don’t want to rank among them, ensure that all company-use software and coding is safeguarded via strict copyright laws and relevant patents. This proprietary/intellectual information is akin to trade secrets and needs to be treated as such.

Your application is as essential part of your revenue model and may be at risk of a vulnerability-induced attack at any time. With this post we hope to have highlighted the importance of protecting your source code and ways to do this.

If you want to completely guard your precious code against hackers try our professional mobile application penetration test and other security testing services like advanced web security testing and cloud infrastructure testing.

Contact us today to learn more about our services.

Top Security Issues App Developers Should Know About

Mobile application development is experiencing exponential growth in the present market. This makes it necessary for mobile app developers to not only provide new features to users but to also ensure that security protocols are constantly updated.

In fact, mobile application security is one of the biggest concerns today as data within those apps can easily be compromised with lax security controls. External forces like malicious hackers target mobile applications to illegally gain access to consumer information and use it for personal profit.

This is why app developers should prioritise security when building applications for both iOS and Android platforms.

Here are the most pressing app security issues app developers should know and ways to deal with them.

Vulnerable Source Code

When it comes to building mobile applications the source code is one of the most important components. Unfortunately, as it is so valuable there are a number of hackers who want to exploit it.

According to CERT Australia, the amount of malware specifically targeting smart device codes is on the rise. Hackers are skilled in a number of hacking techniques like reverse engineering an app code to break the most secure codes.

This is why writing a highly secure code is so important. Build hard codes that are difficult to break  for hackers and easy to update for you so that you integrate latest security measures  constantly.

Weak Authentication Mechanism

Authentication mechanisms are also a crucial part of mobile application security. With weak authentication a mobile app is exposed to a number of security vulnerabilities.

Developers should stress on maximizing security for user authentication based on passwords. The password policy needs to be strong enough to not be broken easily. Another way is using multi-factor authentication. This makes your app more secure through authentication code, biometrics or One-Time Password (OTP) login.

Unauthorised API

Some app developers neglect using authorized API on their mobile app codes. This gives hackers the opportunity to get access to your information and internal systems like sensitive authentication information caches.

That’s why we recommend having a centralized authentication for the entire API to ensure the utmost security for all your mobile applications.

With the ever-increasing reliance of businesses on secure IT structures, cyber and application security has proven its importance. Not only will this allow for more reliable business operations but will also become a differentiating factor in the app world.

We ensure that with our detailed mobile application penetration testing services, your application security is completely safeguarded against malicious forces.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our security testing services.