Why Network Security is Important For Your Business

Steps Involved In Web Application Vulnerability Assessment

Web application vulnerability assessment is a type of security test used to evaluate an application’s vulnerabilities such as, faulty coding, weak configuration management, or input validation.

Businesses in all kinds of industries can benefit from web application vulnerability assessment. It can be performed both, manually and automatically to monitor an application’s security and protecting it against all kinds of threats.

Here are the steps involved in web application vulnerability assessment.

Step 1: Information Collection

To conduct effective web application security assessments, testers first have to gather information regarding the target web application. It’s important to understand the architecture, technology, user base, and the code size of the application.

Step 2: Risk Profiling

This step falls into the planning phase of the security assessment. Considering factors such as application size, data, users and more, the tester estimates efforts and divides them for different stages such as scanning, manual testing, mapping findings, and reporting. This step requires the tester to meticulously prioritize and assign efforts to different phases accordingly.

Step 3: Define Scope and Objectives

Before running the web application vulnerability assessment, it’s important to define the objectives of the test. The tester determines what components of the application should be included in the test and which ones should be excluded. This helps the security personnel of an organization understand what sorts of results they can expect from the assessment.

Step 4: Perform the Vulnerability Scan

Before running the test, the tester chooses the security assessment tools that would work best for the target web application. Several factors can influence the choice of a security tool, which include the web application’s dynamics, the performance of the tools, their characteristics, etc.

Moreover, for a successful assessment, it’s important to create a checklist of vulnerabilities and test the web application against all of them. The list should be updated to cover the latest vulnerabilities and all sorts of potential cyber attacks.

Lastly, the scan is performed in a way that targets critical data and functionalities in the beginning to identify high-risk factors early.  

Step 5: Report Creation

The last step entails creating a comprehensive report of the identified potential risks and threats. This will discuss the possible impact of the found vulnerabilities on the business and the appropriate course of action that should be taken by the organization to mitigate them.

If you’re looking for web application security testing for your business, get in touch with Lean Security!

We’ll help evaluate your web app’s security and identify potential risks by using the most comprehensive methodologies. We also offer other IT solutions, including cloud infrastructure testing and penetration testing.

Contact us today for more information.

The Benefits Of Source Code Analysis

Computer programs function according to a source code. A source code is a set of instructions, comments, and declarations, which are devised by the creator of a program with the use of a computer programming language, such as Java, Python, etc.

The number of source codes depends on the size of a program. While a small one can use just one source code, a larger program can have hundreds and thousands of files. Source codes can be stored in a system’s database, on a hard disk or in printed form as a book.

What Is Source Code Analysis?

Before an application is sold or distributed, it’s subjected to an automated test called source code analysis. The test is also known as static code analysis, and its purpose is to check a program for any faults and bugs that might have been overlooked by the programmer. The analysis focuses on finding loopholes that might cause the application to crash or hinder the program from running smoothly.

Benefits of Source Code Analysis

For all businesses, small or large, performing a source code analysis of their applications is highly recommended. Here’s why.

Secure Software Development

All software is created in different stages. To have a more secure development process an organization should run a source code analysis at all stages. This enables developers to identify vulnerabilities during the process and to solve them right away. Source code analysis ensures a more robust product at the end.

Pinpoints Exact Locations of Errors

Source code analysis makes the remediation process faster and easier by pinpointing the exact locations of vulnerabilities in the program code. This is especially helpful in larger programs in which hundreds of faults are scanned out with every test.

The detection isolates the bug, and helps the organization save time and money in the remediation process.

Improves Coding Standards

Source code analysis can improve an organization’s coding standards and a developer’s coding ability. After performing the analysis several times on different programs, a programmer becomes familiar with common bugs and errors. This enables organizations and programmers to develop more stables applications.

Supports Cloud Language

Due to the prevalence of cloud computing, programmers have to create source codes in specific languages that are compatible with PaaS (Platform as a Service). In cloud computing, the programmer doesn’t have control over execution, validation and proprietary compilation of a program. Instead, the PaaS is responsible for all these factors. In this situation, source code analysis helps the developer identify faults and bugs in a program before it’s sold or distributed.

If you’re looking for source code analysis for your application, get in touch with Lean Security.

Along with source code analysis, we also offer other expert IT solutions including Cloud Infrastructure testing, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, and more.

You can call us at +61 (2) 8078 6952 for more information.

Network Vulnerability Assessment: A Guide

Network vulnerability assessment is a scanning procedure that analyzes the networks on various devices and computers for security vulnerabilities. The inspection exposes security issues in the networks that hackers can exploit, thereby preventing sensitive data breaches.

Moreover, ongoing network vulnerability assessments are used to identify defects in an organization’s network prior to security breaches.

The Need for Vulnerability Assessments

The main goal for network vulnerability assessments is to highlight weaknesses in network infrastructures. This way, organizations get a clear understanding of their network environment as well as the security defects in it.

Therefore, through network vulnerability assessments organizations can assess if they’re able to meet the standards of security, for example, in the banking industry to carry out business operations; or in the healthcare sector, to handle the patient’s data responsibly.

Methods to Conduct Network Vulnerability Assessments

Your organization can choose one of these methods to conduct a vulnerability assessment:

The Black Box Method

A security team acts like a real hacker while performing the black box method of vulnerability assessment. The team will find various methods to breach the organization’s network in order to get useful information. The only things visible to them are the public IP addresses, systems in demilitarized zones and a firewall’s external interface. The security team doesn’t have any access to any administrator privileges or other databases.

The White Box Method

A cybersecurity team performing the white box method has the privileges of other network authorized users. Therefore, they’re able to view the network with all its databases, file servers, etc. moreover, the security team has access to the various servers that operate inside the network. This way, they don’t just asses the network for security defects, but they also assess the security of the devices placed in the network.

The Gray Box Method

This method involves steps of both the approaches mentioned above but is more similar to the black box method of network vulnerability assessment. Security teams choose this method of network assessment when they have partial information regarding a network, such as its login details, but don’t have access to substantial information.

Steps Involved In Network Vulnerability Assessment

These are the steps involved in assessing your network’s security:

Step # 1

The first step is to understand how your business operates, whether it relies on the collaboration between different business units that take care of issues like regulatory compliance and customer privacy, etc.

Step # 2

Identifying which applications are used frequently during business procedures and which are sensitive to privacy breaches.

Step # 3

Identify the data sources, such as a cloud-based network, that may be an easy security breach target.

Step # 4

Keep track of all the network protection software that’s running in your system.

Step # 5

Run a network vulnerability assessment to identify security vulnerabilities in your system.

Are you looking for network vulnerability assessment for your organization? Get in touch with Lean Security!

Our experts can assess the technical vulnerabilities of your business to identify what might be affecting it negatively, and check if your current security system is up to date. You can call us at +61 (2) 8078 6952 for more information.

5 Common Types Of Malware

Malware is an abbreviation for malicious software. It’s used by cyber criminals to compromise the security of computer systems. Malware enables intruders to gain access to organizational controls and steal confidential data. It can harm the host computer and lead to losses in millions.

Cyber crimes have become more common in the recent years. According to a survey conducted by Norton, in the year 2017, a total of 516,380 Australian small businesses fell prey to different acts of cyber crimes.

To protect your business from cyber threats, it’s important that you know what to look out for.

Here are some common malware that can cause harm to your system.

1. Virus

A virus is a type of malware that attaches itself to a program and spreads other files when a user launches the infected program. A cyber criminal can use a virus to steal private information and harm a company’s computer network. Once a system is infected by a virus, it becomes very hard to get rid of it. Often time, the affected file needs to be deleted to remove the virus; this can result in a loss of important information.

2. Adware

Also known as advertising-supported software, adware is a type of malware that causes unwanted advertisements to pop-up on a computer. Most of the times, adware is sponsored by advertisers. However, there’s a chance of them being paired up with spyware, which is used to steal confidential data.

3. Trojan Horse

A Trojan disguises itself as a legitimate program to trick the user into downloading it on their system. A hacker can access a Trojan infected computer and steal valuable information. Moreover, the attacker can also monitor user activity, install additional malware and alter the files on the computer.

4. Bot

Bots are programmed to perform certain functional automatically. Most of the times, bots are created to perform in video games etc, but they can also used to carry out cyber crimes. They are disguised as popular search items. A computer system infected by a bot can be controlled by third parties very easily.

5. Ransomware

This type of malware holds a system captive and demands a ransom from the user. It blocks users from accessing programs unless they have paid the demanded amount to the virus creator via an online payment method.

The fastest and easiest way to remove malware from your system is by contacting a security testing service provider. If you’re looking for one for your business, then get in touch with Lean Security!

Our team of experts is well equipped in detecting and mitigating malware on websites and networks. You can contact us here for more information.