The Role of Security Testing in Protecting Against Cyber Attacks

The digital world has grown to new heights, and with the increase of the new digital landscape, the role of cyber security is more important than ever. A small security breach can hamper the overall brand reputation. Cyber security attacks can have long-term negative effects on business operations. Implementing strong cyber security practices has become a necessity.

With the growing concern of emerging technology, the cyber attackers keep increasing. The effective cyber security testing services can prevent the breaches by assessing the malwares & addressing the vulnerabilities in the system earlier for better quality & costs.

Security testing identifies the vulnerabilities in the system. By resolving all these vulnerabilities, a business can prevent itself from any security incident. As hacking activities are increasingly growing, cybersecurity has turned into a major task. It is surprising to know that approx $5.2 trillion values would be put due to cyberattacks from 2019 to 2023. Over the years, security testing has been gaining popularity & emerged as the trusted shield against cyber-attacks. To understand a brief about how cyber security software testing safeguards software, move to the below section!

What is the Role of Security Testing in Cyber Attacks?

Security testing in software testing ensures the software is free from any potential vulnerabilities, risks, threats so that the software might not harm the user data. Security testing is carried out in the SDLC phase, to find out the vulnerabilities and address them for security of your system. Security testing is all about application testing to find out the vulnerabilities in the application. This testing can be done manually with the help of software tools considered automated security testing tools.

The aim of security testing is to evaluate potential threats and system vulnerabilities in the application and to ensure that the application is protected against the data breaches, unauthorized access and other security related problems. Based on cyber security statistics, there are 2,200 cyber-attacks every day, every 39 seconds. In the US, the cost of data breaches is $9.44M. In contrast, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to be $8 trillion by the year 2023.

Based on the Tripwire statistics, 92% of malware was delivered via email, and more than 4.1 million websites were present in Google at any given time. Security testing services are carried out for testing web applications, blockchain applications, and cloud infrastructure.

The fundamentals of security testing involve vulnerability scanning, security scanning, penetration scanning, risk assessment, ethical hacking and posture assessment. The objective of secure software testing is to identify the security risks and ensure the overall safety & security of software applications. Let’s classify the types of security testing-

• SAST (Static Application Security Testing)

This is referred to as static code analysis and is a type of testing that evaluates the software source code of any application without execution. The objective of static security testing is to identify the potential security vulnerabilities in the software development cycle before the application is deployed. This tool utilizes a variety of techniques, which include data flow analysis, vulnerability scanning, and code review for analyzing the security breach.

• DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)

This security testing is also known as black box testing, which is used for evaluating the application when it’s running. The objective of DAST is to evaluate potential security breaches. It sends requests to the app for observing the behavior. The tools & techniques used for this testing are penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and data flow analysis for evaluating the security issues.

• IAST (Interactive Application Security Testing)

This is the type of security testing tool that combines the elements of DAST and SAST for real-time analysis of software applications when it is running. Interactive security testing is known for detecting security breaches to offer immediate feedback to your application.

Also Read : Best Practices for Security Testing of Software

• SCA (Software Composition Analysis)

This is a 3rd party component testing that is integrated into the software application. The objective of SCA is to identify the potential security breaches in the 3rd party component for offering recommendations. SCA is an automated process which identifies the software in the codebase. SCA is performed for evaluating the license compliance, security license and code quality.

• MAST (Mobile Application Security Testing)

This testing is specifically utilized for evaluating the mobile app security. The goal of the mobile app security testing is to identify the security issues in the application. It offers recommendations for remediation. MAST testing is carried out by using techniques like penetration testing, vulnerability scanning & dynamic/static testing.

• RASP (Run-Time Application For The Self-Protection)

This is another security test that is designed to protect the software application from security threats by offering real-time application analysis. This security testing tool is designed to detect & respond to security threats in real-time, which lets the application defend against attackers. The RASP tools use techniques like vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, and data flow analysis.

Advanced Security Testing Techniques

1. Vulnerability Assessment

Vulnerability assessment testing involves automated tools that are known for identifying the security vulnerabilities in the software application. The vulnerability assessment goal is to identify & report potential security breaches & recommend remediation measures. It offers the security baseline & focuses on the known risks.

2. Penetration Testing

This is testing carried out against ethical hacking. This testing contains stimulation of real-world attacks to locate the risks in software applications. Vulnerability scanning and penetration testing is necessary to identify potential security threats and recover them. The penetration testing can be performed either manually or with automated tools. The penetration testing includes techniques like network scanning, social engineering & application layer testing.

3. Ethical Hacking

Ethical hacking is also referred to as the authorized process of detecting the vulnerabilities in the application and organization’s infrastructure. Businesses must opt for this service to identify the data breaches & threats. It is designed to offer a deep technical analysis that goes beyond the automated techniques and risk assessment. This testing is carried out by the expertise of skilled & secured professionals.

4. Application Security Testing

This testing procedure is known for evaluating the software security application. This testing is necessary for evaluating the potential breaches. This testing includes the combination of manual and automated testing techniques, for example, which are penetration testing, code analysis, etc. The goal of security app testing is to detect and mitigate the security risks of software applications. This testing is necessary to assess both internal & external threats.

5. Risk Assessments

Risk assessment covers the identification of potential security threats. Risk assessment aims to prioritize the security risks based on some predicted issues and develop a plan for mitigating the issues.

AI and ML in Security Testing

The Cyberattack issue is massive in enterprises, and the concern is growing rapidly. Analyzing & improving the cybersecurity strategies for any organization needs expert intervention. AI and ML are now essential for information security since these technologies are capable of analyzing millions of data sets by tracking various cyber-attacks.

Artificial intelligence has lots of benefits in a variety of industries, and Cybersecurity is one of them. Because of the rapid hacking activities and the fast-evolving cyberattack problems, businesses want to implement AI & ML in security testing. Both these technologies play a strong role in defeating cyber criminals and automating threat detection.

AI and ML play a strong role in detecting security threats or malicious activities. The software designed by traditional tools can’t keep pace with the advanced malware attacks, and this is when AI helps. The AI systems are implemented for detecting the malware before it enters the system.

Also Read : Differences: SAST, DAST, and IAST Security Testing

To keep your business safe, it is necessary to track every detail regarding the prevention of strategies, cyberattacks, and new anomalies. Cybersecurity systems based on AI offer the latest knowledge on industry-specific risks for formulating the best ideas.

Machine Learning Algorithms For Pattern Recognition In Breaches

Pattern recognition defines the process of identifying the local and global trends in a given pattern. Pattern recognition can be completed mathematically and physically by utilizing the algorithms. When it comes to pattern recognition, ML indicates the utilization of powerful algorithms for the regularities & identification of given data. This is widely used in advanced technical domains such as speech recognition, face, and computer vision. Here are the Pattern recognition types in machine learning-

• Supervised Algorithms

This algorithm is used in Pattern recognition for identifying the patterns. The algorithm involves 2 stages: one is development or model construction, and the second is predicting unseen objects.

• Unsupervised Algorithms

This algorithm is used for observing the data patterns & groups based on the similarity in the features. This algorithm uses machine learning algorithms, which are K-means Clustering & hierarchical!

Pattern recognition is known for identifying & predicting the smallest untraceable data. Pattern recognition is applied for the data of all types including videos, images, audio and texts. Pattern recognition in ML is known for identifying and recognizing the object. Pattern recognition not only helps to predict unseen data but also helps to make better decisions.

Integration of Security Testing with Development

DevSecOps is a kind of integration security testing process which is taking place during the software development process. The integration of security testing with development includes the processes and tools that encourage the collaboration between security specialists, developers, and operational terms. DevSecOps is considered as development-security-operation.

Development is a process of planning, building, testing, and coding applications. Security refers to ensuring the code is free from any security breaches before the company releases it. The operation team refers to fixing and monitoring issues that arise from software.

It allows the development team to address security breaches efficiently. This is an advanced alternative to traditional software security. The SDLC software development life cycle is the structured process that guides the software team in producing advanced quality applications.

The software experts use the SDLC method because of its benefits, like eliminating mistakes, reducing the cost, and ensuring the software aligns with project objectives. The following stages take place in the software development lifecycle, which are- requirement analysis, planning, designing, development, testing & deployment.

Role of DevSecOps Security Testing with Development

• Track The Vulnerabilities

The team of software development & testing experts mostly focus on security controls throughout the development process. The developers can conduct tests at every stage in the development process. The software team can detect security errors and eliminate the cost and time to fix vulnerabilities. Once the application is released, it ensures great security and less disruption to the users.

• Minimize Human Errors

By conducting DevSecOps, a software team can reduce human errors and automate security tests. It also prevents security assessment from being the bottleneck during the development procedure.

• Ensure Regulatory Compliances

The software team uses DevSecOps to comply with professional security measures and regulatory requirements. It helps in assessing the data protection & security requirements in the system. The software team utilizes the AWS Security Hub for automating the security checks against the industry measures.

• Build A Secure Environment

The experts of the software team are more concerned about security practices when developing an application. Through this, developers check the threats to code, modules, and other technologies.

• Developing Secure Advanced Features

Technology infrastructure management can be challenging especially when you don’t have the in-house cyber security team. When you have the experts of the Cyber security department, you can miss the vulnerabilities and threats. IT cyber security management team offers additional level of protection. Working with the third party cybersecurity team is the accessible way for employing cybersecurity testing. In the below section you can better understand about the cyber security and how companies can perform security testing for safeguarding the business data.

Developing Secure Advanced Features encourages the reliable connection between the security team and operational and development teams. It focuses on adding more value to the software without any compromises of security. To implement the DevSecOps, the experts first implement the DevOps. DevOps is the software development practice which is carried out by the operational and development team together.

Also Read : How Security Testing Can Help in Overcoming The Instances of Data Breach

It quickly responds to issues once the application is released. AWS CodePipeline is used for deploying and managing applications.

Challenges in Security Testing For Cyber Attacks

Here, we are sharing the brief about the challenges the developers face during security testing:

1. Speed of Software Development

The fast-paced, dynamic nature of software development encourages the IT team to neglect the issues for achieving the project goals and meeting deadlines. So, there is a huge chance that the security testing guidelines will be partially ignored.

2. Risk of Utilizing the Open Source Components

Utilizing the open source components with little cognizance regarding the internal insight of components may lead to issues and unwanted complexities. To mitigate the issues, the developers ask to avoid using open-source components until it is not possible to write the code. Utilizing application vulnerability tools that perform SCA helps locate and track vulnerable components.

3. Errors in Code

Even if the applications are developed securely still, they can create risks because of the vulnerabilities & weaknesses in programming languages! All the programming levels are prone to their own vulnerabilities and limitations that can be utilized for attacking the application.

To understand briefly, let’s take an example of C programming. The basic security breaches that can arise in software developed in the C programming language are integer errors, format vulnerabilities, and buffering overflow. These security issues can be minimized by improving the awareness of programming languages.

4. Lack of Planning

Strategic planning plays a significant role in the security testing against cyber attacks. Lack of planning can lead to Unmanageable security errors & expectations of the requirement.

To deal with these ever-evolving threats, it’s necessary to hire experts and understand the brief of resource allocation. These challenges can be prevented easily when you have the right hand!

Secure Your Code: Act Now Against Cyber Threats!

Cybersecurity threats are increasing every day in numbers, which ultimately affects the business credibility. In today’s world, cybersecurity is more important than ever! With the ever-growing threats in businesses, having a reliable security solution is essential. Every day, you hear about lots of organizations that are paying huge fines or even being thrown out from the industry because of hackers. There are multiple threats you must ignore, whether it’s Phishing or Ransomware. To prevent these frauds and cyberattacks, businesses should hire a security testing company.

Security qa testing makes a strong approach to preventing cyberattacks. We all know how continually the emerging cyber threats impact a business. The strong security testing approach ensures security into the every phase of the development journey. The IT companies have advanced technologies that are continuously evolving. They have the latest techniques and technologies, which offer customized and comprehensive solutions. They offer a huge range of risk management solutions to help every size of organization by safeguarding them against attacks.

Overall, Security testing plays a crucial part in making sure that the application is fast & secure. Multiple software and testing companies are there who carried out this task successfully with the right approach. With them, you can compete in this industry and feel protected from hackers and security threats.