Why is it Necessary to have Application Vulnerability Assessment?
Applications play a key role in the smooth functioning of an organization's business processes however most organizations are struggling to keep them safe from malicious attacks. Consumer-facing web applications face the most threat from security breaches.
Application security has become one of the top priority items for most organizations as most applications are being designed and hosted on the net for external access.
What is Application Vulnerability Assessment?
Vulnerability Assessment is a process to evaluate the security risk of a website application to reduce the probability of a potential threat. A Vulnerability is the proverbial chink in the armour of any IT system, the penetration of which could lead to serious repercussions for the IT security of the organization. Vulnerability assessments are hence done to iron out any loopholes in the functioning of the system.
For applications, this requires testing on the broad framework about critical risks laid down organizations like the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and The Web Application Security Consortium (WASC).
Application Vulnerability assessment tools and vendors provide countermeasures to remove the vulnerabilities which are followed by a validation test that confirms the resolution of the issues.
Steps involved in vulnerability assessment
- Planning: Defining the objectives, scope, and rules of engagement
- Gathering information: collecting and evaluating key information regarding the application’s infrastructure
- Discovering vulnerabilities: Finding vulnerabilities in the system using automated tools and manual techniques
- Reporting: providing a comprehensive report with deep analysis and recommendations to remove the vulnerability if any in the system
Considering the state of affairs in the current global scenario rift with hacking incidents more and more companies are investing in application vulnerability assessment techniques. Companies must realize that applications are vulnerable and can become susceptible to hackers.