Business applications that hold sensitive information related to business processes and customers are prone to malicious hackers and viruses. Incorporating cost-effective security measures is a must in order to protect this important information and prevent data stealing attacks. If businesses fail to take the necessary web security test measures, they will lose the trust of customers and experience significant losses.
The Minimalist Guide to Mobile Application Security: Why Less Can Be More
Ensuring mobile application security is a must and the “less is more” approach could be more beneficial in achieving this goal. You would think that adding more rules, security tools and safeguards is the best approach. When you take streamlined application design into consideration, you will see why less is more is the better tactic. Try designing mobile applications in a way that the amount of data permitted in device downloads or exposed in apps is minimized. This will help you reduce the risk of revealing sensitive information.
The Future of Penetration Testing: Declaring War on Modern Hacking Techniques
It has become SOP for organizations to conduct penetration testing and vulnerability scans on a regular basis. Such practice is even endorsed by most IT specialists since an attack could lead to disastrous outcomes. Penetration testing assesses an IT infrastructure’s security by safely exploiting vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities may exist in incorrect configurations, hazardous end-user behavior, operating systems and application flaws.
What to Expect When You Hire a Web Application Testing Service Provider
In simple terms, web application testing is when an online business hires a security assurance service provider such as Lean Security to analyse and test their web applications for potential viruses or cyber threats – either before or during its availability to the World Wide Web.
The task of securing a web application from outside attacks is given to a professional application testing service provider for effective results. The importance of running precise security analysis on your web application shouldn’t be taken lightly; it is during this stage that major issues pertaining to web application security and its operation come are brought to light.
Web Application Testing Checklist
Security experts recommend hiring a professional for this very important job for a reason. Not only will they be better equipped in terms of automated tools, software and skilled expertise; but a professional web application testing will ensure that nothing is left to chance. They will conduct;
Functionality Testing
This is usually done to check if the specifications you intended for your product are met. The functional requirements in the web applications as per the developmental documentation are also checked. The testing analysis is done on;
v All links (outgoing, internal, anchor, MailTo) in the web-pages to check if working correctly, with no broken links in place.
v Forms
v Cookies
v HTML & CSS
v Business Workflow
Usability Testing
This has become a vital part of any web based project and application. This is because conducting usability testing on the web application will let you know how easy it is to navigate for users and the target audience. Usability testing can either be carried out by experts, DIY testers or a small focus group that’s similar to the web application’s intended users. With the help of usability testing, online store owners and business can test;
v Whether the web application is easy to navigate or not
v Whether the content is easy to read/understand or not
Security Testing
This is by far the most important function carried by web application testing service providers. Why? Security testing of a web application holds vital importance for e-commerce websites as these online stores carry sensitive customer information. Lean Security conducts the analysis of and suggests businesses to keep a look at whether;
v Unauthorized access is being given to secure pages by the current system
v Restricted files are being downloaded without the appropriate access and authentication
v Check sessions are killed automatically after long inactivity by users
v Websites are being re-directed to encrypted SSL pages on usage of SSL certificates
By having a safe and secure web application, you will only be doing your online business a favour. Customers will prefer the extensive and seamless secure applications that can only be provided by a professional hand. Sign up for our services today!
Top Areas You Shouldn’t Miss While Testing Your Web Applications
The internet has created unlimited opportunities for organizations and companies when it comes to conducting important business transactions and sharing information on a global scale. New levels of security concerns have been brought in the forefront. This is because of the evolving nature of data and information. The sensitive nature of information, critical business applications and client’s private information (financial and otherwise) has come to be in even more risk than before.
Web application security testing ( for mobile apps as well) is therefore an essential requisite for businesses in order to give their clients and customers the peace of mind that only a secure and risk free software can provide. The experts at Lean Security provide the following areas that shouldn’t be over-looked when testing web and mobile applications for vulnerabilities.
Authentication
This is the first entry point that comes when accessing any application - web or mobile based. For effective operation of the application, the authentication should be spot-on. The application should be able to verify incorrect or changed passwords, have the ability to ‘lock up’ if user enters the wrong password a number of times, verify the password rules which are to be implemented on all authentication pages (registration, forgot password, changed password), etc.
Encryption
The security experts at Lean Security state the importance of information (password, account number, credit card numbers) to be displayed in an encrypted format. The cookie information on the other hand needs to be stored in encrypted format. HTTPS should be used and any data transmission over the network needs to be secured.
Session Management
The user shouldn’t be able to access or navigate the application when/if logged out from the system or upon expiration of the user session. The session values should also be displayed in an encrypted format in the address bar. Protocols need to be in place that prohibits the access of secure and unsecure web pages.
Error Handling
In the case of any non-functionality, the system shouldn’t display any exceptions/errors from any server, application or database information. Why? Because application errors often contain information not intended for the user/hacker to view. In its stead, the custom error page should be shown. For this proper exception and error handling is very important. Not conducting a proper job can lead to attacks and disclosure of system level details.
Proper execution of applications testing is absolutely crucial, which can only be carried out by a professional security expert such as Lean Security, the professional security and WAF managed service provider in Australia.
There’s a Security Gap within Your Organization: How Can You Fix That?
It’s no secret that the landscape of cyber-security is becoming more complex with every passing moment. In addition to complex security systems and protocols in the market, companies and online retailers also have to contend with the rising threat of cyber-crime.
Enterprises and organizations today have the ability and funds to invest in more secure systems in their web and mobile applications. However, the sophisticated, complex and armed to the teeth, digital bad guys shouldn’t be underestimated.
But what can enterprises do in a shadow economy trading that produces malware software by the billion, and where the lonely hacker has been replaced with an organized crime syndicate? Designing better security systems from the start (especially in mobile and web applications) is the answer, along with the following;
Internal Market of Security
Compliance and security roles are becoming popular amongst people, while the functions are getting the visibility and recognition they deserve. As the owner of a business or manager running the operation, you should highlight to the rest of the company how security teams within (and outside) keep the business safe, compliant and right on track. Your employees should know of the action to take in case of a data breach which is why openly discussing response planning is a good recommendation.
Turn Your Security into All New Code
This step will become all the more important as the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow within your organization. Since the Internet has taken responsibility of a huge chunk of everyday office operations, secure connectivity to the internet must be worked upon. This will only happen once enterprises and organizations consider security from the very start of their operation. Consider this: Is it easier to conduct operations on a secure foundation from the start, or build and work on a weak infrastructure?
Automate All Your Information Systems
This can be done once security is added into the business and infrastructure from the beginning of operations. When that is done, you’ll find automating many of the processes has not only been made easy but is the obvious course of action. This will in turn free up your security and compliance team to focus on issues that are really important such as finding anomalies and security vulnerabilities.
Of course, organizations and enterprises can outsource their security needs to third party managed security services such as Lean Security. Click here to learn about other services that we can help with.
What Is A Web Application Firewall (WAF)?
In simple terms: a web application firewall (WAF for short) is an aspect of technology that monitors, filters or blocks HTTP traffic to and from the web application of your company. Now on to the detailed definition brought to you by the experts at Lean Security.
WAFs; the Recent Most Popular Security Measure
While it’s true that Web application firewalls found today have grown in popularity; however, we cannot overlook that the web-based threat factors have also been enhanced since then. The nature of these factors can vary; it can be anyone from a seemingly harmless teenager testing out his/her newly learned SQL injection skills on your website. It can also be a nation-state sponsored attacker on the lookout of proprietary information to steal.
This has made web security even more of a challenge. To make matters worse for enterprises, their WAF design needs to be both secured and ‘open’ in order to maintain wide availability all the while complying with proper user authorization and data security.
WAF Protects a Web Application By
Input, output, the access to and from an application etc is controlled with the help of a web application firewall. The technology runs like an appliance (either server plug-in or cloud based service) by which every HTML, HTTPS, SOAP and XML-RPC data packet is inspected thoroughly.
Attacks such as XSS, SQL injection, session hijacking, and buffer overflows are inspected through customizable security protocols, and then prevented. Such attacks are beyond the working of network firewalls and intrusion detection systems. This is why online retailers and businesses employ far more stringent protective measures, tools and softwares to make security process more effective.
WAF Can Be Network-based or Host-based
In addition, the technology (software or program) is usually deployed through proxy and is positioned in front of the web application. A WAF has the ability to monitor web traffic in real or near real time, before it even reaches the application. This is how it’s able to filter out potential harmful traffic patterns quite effectively.
Enterprises have used such security controls since a long time to protect their web applications against the growing threat of zero-day exploits, impersonation, known and unknown vulnerabilities and cyber attackers. It can be safely said that WAFs are the best tool of defence that your small business can employ - of course only when done right.
Never compromise with the security of your web application and systems as an enterprise. It’s better to hire experts in WAF software design. Get in touch with Lean Security, the best WAF managed service provider in Australia, to learn more about our iron-clad web-based security platforms.
What makes Penetration Testing Different than Vulnerability Assessment?
If you are a security professional, you are most definitely familiar with what vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are. These two are types of vulnerability testing in order to complete a vulnerability analysis. Both are valuable tools for information security and are integral components of the process of managing threat and vulnerability of network systems.
Your Business’s Website Just Got Hacked! Here Is What You Should Do Now
Security experts at Lean Security categorize companies in Australia into two types: those that have been hacked and know about it and those who’ve been hacked but don’t know about it. So, how will you know if your company’s website has been hacked?
Following are the ways Lean Security, the number one WAF managed service shares;
Ø Your website gets defaced
Ø The website redirects to a site that’s ‘unsavoury’ such as a porn site
Ø You get a notification that the site is compromised from either Bing or Google
Ø Your web browser (Firefox or Chrome) will indicate the compromised state of your site
Ø You notice unexplained big spikes in traffic (from other countries) and other signs of strange traffic in the web logs of your site
What Do You Do?
The first thing to do after finding out that your company’s website has been hacked is to remain calm. You won’t be able to do damage control in a frazzled and worried state. The next thing to do is:
Call In Your Support Team
If you’re a small business, chances are that you won’t have the right technical expertise on board. The best option in this case is to hire the expertise of a support team, one that’s ideally an expert in the technical aspects of internet security, as well as familiar with the configuration of your site such as your managed security service provider.
Pull Together Important Information
You’ll have to gather the information that’s helpful to support team, so be prepared to provide the following:
Ø Hosting Login Information
Ø CMS Login Information
Ø Your Site’s Web Logs
Ø FTP/ SFTP Access Credentials
Ø Backups
Take Your Website Offline
The site will have to be temporarily shut down while the support team is running a web application testing and assessment. This is normally done through the hosting control panel. You can also protect the main directory (where the website resides) with a password in order to block users from having access to the site while it’s being fixed.
Scan Local Computers for Viruses and Malware
This is a very important step which can also be carried out by your managed hosting provider. Have the support team scan all your local computers with the help of anti-virus software to make sure there isn’t any malware, spyware, or Trojans in the network. Also make sure the anti-virus software that you use is up to date before scanning the computers.
Just because there’re million others to prey on, doesn’t make your business website secure. It’s always a good idea to be prepared for the possibility of such an event.. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Conduct a free assessment of your website’s security by Lean Security today.
What Measures Do You Take to Keep Your Business’s Web and Mobile Applications Secure?
If you aren’t worried about the cyber security of your business, you should be. Cyber crime has increased exponentially this year, in Australia and neighbouring New Zealand. Security experts gathered round and came up with all the security risks that businesses in the country need to look out for, as these attacks aren’t only increasing in numbers, but in sophistication as well.
This is why businesses are forever on the lookout for ways of boosting their network infrastructure security that’ll help mitigate risks and prevent the exposure and/or theft of sensitive information. The security experts at Lean Security provide the following protective measures that businesses can take to secure their networks.
Exploit the Latest Technological Innovations
Businesses need to stay informed regarding the latest internet technology related developments as well as invest in them. Such technological developments and software are quite capable of combating and preventing cybercrime, as well as protecting the privacy of users and helping secure their computers and mobile applications. The 6 D’s of Cyber Security should be used when planning defences that would fight against current and future threats.
Prepare, Implement and Communicate a Strict Security Policy
IT environments today aren’t just made of end user workstations connected to servers, as now mobile devices, BYOD, cloud storage and remote workstations are also a large part of these environments. Businesses can no longer protect their IT configurations by simple segregation of the network; hence, they should employ another way to protect it.
The same guideline should be followed as that for users working in the office environment and on the same software, devices, etc. There should be made rules for strong passwords, for e-mailing or file downloads, and for using connection methods (Bluetooth, hotspots, wireless) and peripherals so as to prevent the chaos that usually follows in managing an entire IT infrastructure.
Employ Intelligence Tools and Engage In Proactive Cyber-Security
Businesses need to be more proactive when it comes to web application security and must be able to recognize the signs even with zero indication of malfeasance.
Businesses can become more proactive by:
v Identifying the security control gaps found through self web and mobile security assessment.
v Pinpointing the exact vulnerabilities that the IT environment is plagued by.
v Examining how much prepared the company is against cyber- attacks.
v Coming up with incident response and effective threat detection methods.
v Thoroughly reviewing the cyber risk management practiced.
v Highlighting the appropriate cyber security controls.
Of course, today small to mid ranged businesses and even enterprises don’t place their entire focus on the working IT department (and sometimes don’t even have one in place). For them, a much better and less costly option is to hire professional managed security services as they have the latest software and tools necessary to implement any security measure within web applications. Take a free assessment of your web applications by Lean Security today!