Security Testing Fundamentals | Types of Security Testing
For all the obvious reasons known and unknown, Security has become a vital part of our living. Using security testing fundamentals, it is possible to safeguard ourselves. Safeguarding our resources and all the related things that are necessary for a living must be protected.
We engage in creating applications that we use daily. we share data to every digital component. In the digitally evolving world, any data we feed is the most valuable information anyone can have. Information or data being so valuable is in demand from people who want to use.
Either use it to develop the human race or to hurt it is their choice of action. But to build and live a safe digital world, we need to protect data or resources.
We provide data or information to applications believing it to be safe. On a positive note, believe it to be safe. But what if it is not. We got an answer. SECURITY TESTING.
What is Security Testing fundamentals?
Security is a type of Software Testing fundamentals. It ensures the application is safe from any vulnerabilities from either side. It checks for all possible loopholes or vulnerabilities or risks in the application. The loopholes destabilize or crash the application during long term usage.
Crash of application is a huge loss of resources and information. The loss is never acceptable from a Company because of various reasons.
Why is Security Testing important?
Security Testing fundamentals remains an integral part of testing the application. The testing process helps to improve stability and functionality. The aim of performing Security Testing for every application is to deliver a stable and safe app.
It is important for people in the app development to deliver a reliable application. Reliable application is essential because it possesses no security risks.
What are the different types of Security Testing?
Every App must follow the testing process because it helps in finding security hacks. To test every aspect of the app, Different types of Security Testing takes place. The testing process depending on the application.
The following are the seven types of Security Testing fundamentals in total. The Seven types match with the Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual.
- Vulnerability Scanning
- Security Scanning
- Penetration Testing
- Risk Assessment
- Security Auditing or Security Review
- Ethical Hacking
- Posture Assessment
Vulnerability Scanning
Vulnerability Testing scans the complete application through automated software. It acts against vulnerable signatures to detect loopholes.
Security Scanning
During Security Scanning, scanning process takes place for both application and networks. The manual or automated scan takes place to detect threats. The threats are further listed, detailed, analyzed, and provided with a fix.
Penetration Testing
Penetration Testing simulates an external hacking. It is an attempt to detect potential downfalls during threat or seizure. Penetration Testing is a typical attempt to check Loopholes. The loopholes in a system’s functioning by raising a false alarm in the application.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is merely a type of Security Testing. Risk Assessment recommends measures and controls based on the risk. The risk is classified as Low, Medium, and High.
Security Auditing or Security Review
Security Audit or Review is a type of Security Testing. Security Audit accounts to every little flaw that comes across inspection of each line of code or design.
The test also reviews the application’s security by comparing all the security standards. Security standards are generally implemented in the application.
Ethical Hacking
The opposite of Penetration Testing is ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is to detect security flaws while automated software tries to hack the system. The intent is to attack the app from within the application.
Posture Assessment of security testing fundamentals
The combination of Ethical Hacking, Risk Assessment, and Security Scanning is what Posture Assessment is. It provides the exact picture of how security posture is.
When does Security concepts cover Security Testing?
For Security Testing fundamentals be complete, Security Testers must perform the seven attributes of Security Testing, which are mentioned as follows.
Authentication
In the Authentication attribute, a user’s digital identification is checked. While user’s login, the process of checking the right Username, Password, sometimes OTP is Authentication.
The system provides access to the right person, the one who can feed it with the right password or answer to the secret question. The kind of access is chosen by the user, be it biometric, RSA Securid, Toen, or combination of the mentioned authentication types.
Authorization
Authorization attribute comes into the picture only if Authentication attribute is passed. Authorization is the next step of Authentication. There is a very minor difference between Authentication and Authorization.
While Authentication gives access to the right user, Authorization gives special rights to the user. Every user can be authenticated, but not every user can be authorized.
Authorization acts as Access Control to a user, permitting or restricting them from privileges based on the user roles.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality attribute verifies if unauthorized users can’t access the resources meant only for privileged users. It is meant to check information protection at all stages of processing, storage, and display.
It makes sure the information not meant for less privileged users is received to them in encrypted form.
Availability
Availability attribute makes sure the system is always up, that it is responding to resource availability and provides service. This minimum downtime property is made possible by mirroring the primary database and secondary database to each other.
This way security is always alert for hardware failure and increases the system availability.
Integrity
The Integrity attribute verifies if the user information is right according to their user groups, special privileges, and restrictions. The information may vary during transit or deliberately, but isn’t why Security Testing is meant for.
Non-repudiation
As important is providing service to the authorized user, equally important is to track the denied access. It is part of the drill to track denied access requests and obtain Timestamp and IP address.
The drill continues until the denied request is tracked and confirmed that the user means no security threat.
Resilience
Before completing all seven attributes of Security Testing, the system has to be checked if it is resistant enough to bear the external or internal attacks.
This attribute is completed by implementing One Time Password (OTP), RSA key token, encryption, or two-layer authentication.
How to perform security testing for an Application ?
To make Security Testing fundamentals clear and familiar to you, try this very simple Security Testing Example.
- Try to Login into an application.
- Give a wrong password or Username (If access is denied, the application is working fine in terms of authentication.)
- Enter the right password and login to the web application.
- Now, logout from the application.
- Go back to the browser.
- If you can still find yourself logged in, the application isn’t secure.
Conclusion
Apart from all the above-mentioned types of Security Testing and understanding the importance of Security Testing, Testing Genez has a bigger reason to recommend Security Testing as a part of Standard Software Development process.
We believe in the protection of sensitive data and the fact that Security holds the integrity, reputation, and customer’s confidence, there is no compromise. The Security Testers of Testing Genez has evolved with the Security Testing practices and are a pro at securing applications of every size.
