Me Confused: What’s the Difference Between Mobile And Web Application Penetration Testing?

Welcome to part two of our Me Confused series. In our previous blog, we looked at the difference between vulnerability assessment and pen-testing. This time, we’ll talk about how mobile and web application penetration testing contrast from one another. So without any further ado, let’s get started:

Difference between mobile and web application penetration testing

It’s important to understand the app environment of mobile and website in order to learn about the difference in their penetration testing process. Typically, the mobile app environment is more complex and intricate than the web app environment as the latter can adapt to different platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows.  

The mobile app penetration testing process involves creating an assessment of applications by looking for security risks in personal and business mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and their network in a corporate environment.

On the other hand, web app penetration testing assesses communication carried out in a corporate network.

Web app pen testing also includes checking the security of hosting servers such as web browsers and devices with authorised access (firewalls, network gateways, etc.). Web applications are more vulnerable as their data is stored remotely on the internet which is susceptible to server-side attacks.  

Is mobile pen testing more complicated than web testing?

Yes. Due to the complex nature of the app environment, mobile pen testing is more complicated than web testing. Due to personalisation and different type of applications—including native, mobile web, and hybrid—the code used in the developed apps for a single environment can be used in other environments.

Furthermore, pen-testing mobile apps involves using an extensive permutation of testing strategies to cover every possible angle that cybercriminals can use to hack into the app. In contrast, web applications are dependent on simulated scenarios in different browsers on a remote network.

Final words

While web apps are independent of platforms, they are connected to the Internet 24/7, which makes them more vulnerable to attacks. At the same time, mobile apps work in different operating systems which make the testing process challenging and monotonous at the same time.

In conclusion, both mobile and web app pen testing requires different approaches as they face unique challenges and risks pertinent to the cyber-attack. Learning about both processes will help you make better choices for your security systems. We hope that now you are clear about the difference between mobile and web application penetration testing.

For further reading: Introduction to Pen testing 

5 Best Practices For Choosing a Penetration Testing Company

Penetration testing has become more important than ever. Businesses who take pre-emptive measures to keep their sensitive data and servers secure find pen testing a great option to ensure the integrity of their system’s security, to meet compliance requirements, and decrease overall cyber security risks.

Here are five best practices for hiring the right penetration testing company:

Identify your pen testing needs

Before you start looking for penetration testing service providers, it’s important to establish your objectives and identify the type of pen testing services you need.

You should decide whether you need to hire pen test services for mobile apps, web applications, network, or perhaps conduct comprehensive pen test services for every platform.

This is important because each pen test services require specialised knowledge, tools, and expertise, which will also dictate the quality of results and costs of the services.

Assess the expertise of professionals

Once you identify your needs, it’s time to start looking for companies that offer pen testing services.

While you should opt for reputable pen testing companies, it’s important to learn about pen testers who will work on your project.

You should ideally look for professionals with experience and knowledge of the testing process.

Confidentiality and data security

During the pen testing process, the service provider has access to the confidential data of your company, and there’s no other way around it.

Therefore, it’s critical that you hire a company that can demonstrate that they will keep your data safe and secure during the engagement.

You certainly don’t want to entrust a third-party that cannot guarantee the confidentiality and security of the sensitive information of your business.

Ask for references

It’s always a good practice to ask for a couple of references before hiring a pen testing service provider. Ask for references of clients with similar size business and scope of the project.

This way, you can get valuable insights pertinent to their quality of service, professionalism, and turnaround times.

Moreover, this will also help you to determine whether the service provider will be able to fulfil the specific pen testing needs of your business.

Validate the pen testing methodology and process

Clarify the pen testing methodologies with your service provider to ensure that they follow industry-recognised pen testing practices.

You should ask for steps involved in the process, tools used, and the strategy that will be used for evaluation, among other important processes.

Typically, the company will offer a statement of work describing these details. This way, you will be able to ascertain the quality of work and level of thoroughness during the testing process.

When choosing a penetration testing company, these pointers will help you make the right call.

For sophisticated and trustworthy penetration testing services, get in touch with Lean Security at 61 (2) 8078 6952.

Our extensive range of cyber security services can help you identify all sorts of vulnerabilities present in your system and take timely measures to keep your sensitive information protected.

Effects of Malware on Websites [Infographics]

Is Your “Secure” Password Policy Actually Secur

While more and more of our private communication, health records and financial transactions are stored online, a strong password policy is our front line of defence to protect information. This kind of information, if in the wrong hands, can pose serious security risks and it’s more important now than ever for administrators to enforce a strong password policy.

23.2 million people were hacked worldwide who used the password: “123456”. This reiterates the fact that not only do users need to come up with stronger passwords, but administrators must also educate users in how to make these strong passwords. Here’s how to go about it.

Understand What A Secure Password Policy Is

A password policy is a set of rules that guides users to create strong and dependable passwords that will help improve computer security. While some password policies are simply guidelines that a user has to follow and not abide by, other times the user must adhere to the strict requirements of the password policy.

While most people are aware of the security risks of keeping a simple password, it can be troublesome for them if the password policies are extremely strict and unfamiliar. Most users get frustrated keeping up with the regulations that they create a password that just barely meets the requirements.

Enforce Using A Strong Password

The stronger the password, the higher the level of security you have. There are certain rules a password policy must have in order to generate strong passwords. While these rules are not set in stone, they are good in providing direction for the users to create strong passwords that can’t be easily hacked.

The kind of rules that every strong password policy must have include: a decent length, minimum of 8 characters long. No personal information at all, and it should be unique from your previous passwords. It should also include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.  

Pass-Phrase Instead of Pass-word

Instead of using a password, users can implement the use of a pass-phrase. With growth in computing power and technology, cracking a word, even if it’s littered with numbers and symbols is not that difficult for a computer than can run 300,000 possible password variations in a second.

A pass-phrase however, something like “I-am-going-to-church-on-Sunday”, would have over one sextillion possible variations. Even a computer running 300,000 possible variations per second would require years to crack the pass-phrase. Pass-phrases are longer and much harder to guess even for computers and are even easy to remember for the average person.

Having trouble forming a “secure” password policy? Well, let us at Lean Security provide you with the assistance you need! Protect your vital information from hackers and scammers by indulging in our penetration testing services.

We also cover mobile application penetration tests to ensure that the safety of your information is guaranteed! Contact us today for more details.

Me Confused: What’s the Difference Between Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing

We hear you; vulnerability assessment and pen testing sound erringly similar. To be honest, the two security assessment methodologies even confuse established vendors and experienced cybersecurity professionals. But the fact is vulnerability assessment and pen testing are very different from each other, and today in this post, we’ll be explaining this difference.   

The Difference Between Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing

Vulnerability assessment is testing a system, network, app or other computing resource for “known” vulnerabilities and finding out which vulnerabilities apply to the resource.

You might ask:

What are known vulnerabilities?

Known vulnerabilities are those vulnerabilities that are already out there in the domain of public knowledge. They might be listed in the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), reported on the internet, stored in open databases, or available on the dark web.

So during vulnerability assessment, your testing team will basically have a list of known vulnerabilities, and they’ll check your system for each of them to find out if they apply to your case.

Vulnerability assessment is conducted using automated scanning tools.  

Pen testing, on the other hand, involves testing a system, network, app or other computing resource for both known and unknown vulnerabilities and exploiting those vulnerabilities to evaluate the severity of the risk at hand.

During pen testing, the testing team executes a simulated attack on your resource that mimics the strategies and actions of hackers.

It must be mentioned here that vulnerabilities that don’t lead to anywhere valuable are typically ignored in a pen test.

So, for example, let’s say you have a landing page that has minimal user engagement. A pen test would not focus on that page because the testers would know that the page is of little value. In contrast a vulnerability assessment would treat that page with equal significance as any high converting landing page.

Pen testing is conducted using both automated tools and manual penetration.  

To summarize the difference between vulnerability and pen testing:

A vulnerability assessment helps you identify if the doors in your office building are unlocked. A pen test helps you identify which doors in your office building are unlocked and what criminals would do once they are inside your office building.   

We hope now you are clear about the difference between vulnerability assessment and pen testing.  

For further reading: 3 Major Pen Testing Techniques