Security Testing:
With the increase in cyber threats and data breaches, security testing has become a critical aspect of SQA. Organizations are focusing on incorporating robust security testing practices to identify vulnerabilities and protect sensitive data.
Security Testing Definition
Security testing is a crucial aspect of the software development lifecycle aimed at identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses in a system's security measures. It involves evaluating the system's ability to protect data, maintain confidentiality, ensure integrity, and provide availability in the face of potential threats or attacks.
Where should we start with Security Testing
Identify the Scope:
Determine the scope of your security testing. Define the specific goals and objectives of the testing, such as identifying common vulnerabilities, evaluating authentication mechanisms, or assessing data privacy.
Understand the Website:
Gain a comprehensive understanding of the website's architecture, functionality, and technology stack. This knowledge will help you identify potential areas of weakness and focus your testing efforts effectively.
Threat Modeling:
Perform a threat modeling exercise to identify potential threats and attack vectors that could target the website. Analyze the website's components, data flow, and user interactions to assess where vulnerabilities may exist.
Conduct Vulnerability Assessment:
Use automated security scanning tools to perform an initial vulnerability assessment. These tools can help identify common security weaknesses, such as outdated software versions, misconfigurations, or known vulnerabilities in the website's components.
Recommended Tools for Conduct Vulnerability Assessment:
- Nessus: Nessus is a widely-used vulnerability scanner that helps identify security vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance issues. It offers comprehensive vulnerability scanning for a range of platforms and technologies.
- OpenVAS: OpenVAS (Open Vulnerability Assessment System) is an open-source vulnerability scanner that provides network scanning capabilities to detect security issues. It offers a collection of plugins that cover various types of vulnerabilities.
Manual Testing:
Supplement the automated scanning with manual testing techniques to uncover security flaws that may not be easily detected by automated tools. This can involve techniques like input validation testing, session management testing, and testing for security misconfigurations.
Some Manual testing techniques for Security Testing are:
- Threat Modeling: Manual threat modeling involves analyzing the system's architecture, components, and data flow to identify potential threats and attack vectors. It helps prioritize testing efforts and focus on areas most susceptible to security risks.
- Penetration Testing: Also known as ethical hacking, penetration testing involves simulating real-world attacks to evaluate the system's security posture. Skilled testers attempt to exploit vulnerabilities, gain unauthorized access, and assess the impact of potential attacks.
- Input Validation Testing: Manual input validation testing focuses on verifying the website's ability to handle different types of user input securely. Testers intentionally provide malicious or unexpected input to check if the website properly validates, sanitizes, and handles it to prevent security vulnerabilities like SQL injection or cross-site scripting.
- Session Management Testing: This manual testing technique examines how the website manages user sessions and authentication. Testers assess session expiration, session hijacking vulnerabilities, insecure session handling, and any potential weaknesses in user authentication and authorization mechanisms.Test for Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF):
Check if the website is susceptible to CSRF attacks
which exploit the trust users have in authenticated sessions. Verify that the website uses appropriate anti-CSRF tokens and validates requests to prevent unauthorized actions.