How many times have you been on a website, or app, and had to enter data by hand? This can be frustrating and makes the user feel as though they are not in control. Well, app penetration testing takes that frustration away by having automated scripts that enter data into your website when the user visits. This type of testing is not limited to just websites. It also includes mobile apps. In today’s world, it is important for businesses to have their online assets tested by software quality assurance professionals before launching them into the market so that they’re safe from cyber-attacks based on vulnerabilities in their code.
What is Penetration Testing? App Penetration testing is a software verification process that the code of a mobile app or website follows security best practices. For example, if the code is written in a way that it does not allow SQL Injection, or Cross-site scripting, then it serves as a safeguard for the website against hackers trying to exploit vulnerabilities in these areas.
What are some of the benefits of App Penetration Testing?
A/B Testing: By using one app on one device and another app on another device, you can test two versions of your business app and see which one gets more downloads. Since you have control over how each version looks and functions, you can get scientific about your marketing efforts. This testing is called A/B Testing.
Advanced Security: With penetration testing, you can practically eliminate the vulnerabilities that allow for someone to get in and access your valuable information. Penetration testing allows you to look at your app’s security, so you can fix any flaws in the code before your customers do.
Performance: App Penetration Testing allows you to test how well your app performs under duress. By running thousands of scripts against your app, you can see if it has a problem with crashing or slowing down. The test takes away any doubt of the performance of your app.
Optimization: By testing your app under different circumstances, you can see which features work the best and which ones do not. By finding out what works and what does not, you can fine-tune your mobile marketing as a whole. You are able to tweak and improve the way your business app appears to clients who have downloaded it.
Market Presence: Using App Penetration Testing, you will be able to determine where in the country your company stands in terms of market dominance. As an example, if you are an e-commerce company, then you want to make sure that within a city or region, there is maximum usage of your app or website. This can lead to more downloads and more product sales.
Impact Assessment: With penetration testing, you will be able to determine how much impact your app has on the market. For example, if you run an e-commerce site, App Penetration Testing could tell you that no one has ever sold or purchased anything from your website. You will know this information because it is not a “live” application being used on customers and so it is safe from any type of vulnerability based on real-life use.
Types of Penetration Testing: There are many types of penetration testing that exist today, but they all tend to focus on a single aspect or issue within an app or mobile website. What makes an app penetration test the best is that it focuses on the entire functionality of an app.
Performance Testing: Performance testing occurs when a mobile application is given a set amount of time to complete its tasks. Ideally, every time your mobile application processes a request, it should be as fast as possible without causing any delays or failure in the system. But how do you know if your app meets that goal? That’s where performance testing comes in.
Security Testing: Security testing occurs when a mobile application is given a set amount of time to complete its tasks and then the results are compared to the original request for processing. This security testing can be used on both modern and legacy apps and systems.
Usability Testing: Usability testing is a fairly new type of penetration testing that focuses on the flow, efficiency and overall design of your mobile application. The goal here is to ensure that the average user is able to access and use your app without having a difficult time doing so.
Financial Risk Testing: Financial risk testing occurs when a mobile application is given a set amount of time to complete its tasks, then the results are compared to the original request for processing. Similar to security testing, financial risk testing can be used on both modern and legacy apps and systems.
Quality Assurance Testing: Quality testing occurs when a mobile application is given a set amount of time to complete its tasks, then the results are compared to the original request for processing. The goal of this type of testing is to make sure that each and every request made by a user is being processed correctly.
Penetration testing for iOS applications and iPhone apps include:
These are free ways to test your application before you upload it to the store.
In other words, these tools allow you to test your app by simulating the real-world scenarios or conditions to which your app will be exposed. A lot of them support porting over existing projects with very few changes. There are open-source tools that provide access to Cydia/iTunes and App Store features but are not comprehensive as penetration testing tools by themselves.
conclusion
These include some basic access, like static analysis and network checking, but are not sophisticated enough to test real-world scenarios. These are tools that allow testers to view the contents of an app for free. Features vary from one to another. Some allow remote testing on other devices, while others do not allow this. The penetration testing tools communicate with a central server from where the results can be analyzed and presented in a user-friendly manner.