penetration testing

June 3, 2018 by James Jardine

Thinking about starting a bug bounty? Do this first.

Application security has become an important topic within our organizations. We have come to understand that the data that we deem sensitive and critical to our business is made available through these applications. With breaches happening all the time, it is critical to take reasonable steps to help protect that data by ensuring that our applications are implementing strong controls.

Over the years, testing has been the main avenue for “implementing” security into applications. We have seen a shift to the left more recently, leading to doing more throughout the entire development cycle, but we still have a ways to go. I am still a firm believer in embedding security into each of the phases as our main means of securing applications. Testing, however, is still a major component of any security program.

Typically, organizations rely on penetration testing to find the flaws in their applications. This is the de facto standard for understanding your risk. Unfortunately, penetration testing for applications has been watered down from what we think about with network testing. Many of the assessments we call penetration tests these days are just automated scans transposed into a custom report. These types of testing overlook one of the components a penetration test provides, which is the manual testing. Of course, there is much more to a penetration test, but that is not the focus of this post.

Internally, organizations may implement automated tools to help identify security flaws within their applications. These tools are good at finding certain types of flaws, and usually quite quickly. Like many current penetration tests, they lack the manual assessment side.

Not only does manual testing have the ability to find different types of flaws, such as authentication, authorization, CSRF, business logic, etc., it also has the ability to identify flaws that an automation tool overlooks. For example, a tool may not find every instance of cross-site scripting, depending on how that tool analyzes the system. Granted, manual testing is not guaranteed to find every instance either. With each type of testing, there is always a number of issues that will not be identified. The goal is to start reducing these numbers down over time.

Handling the results of all these res ports from the different assessments is critical to how well you start creating more resilient applications. In many organizations, vulnerabilities identified are handled as individual items and patched. In my opinion, the return on investment is when you can analyze these results to review your development process and see what improvements can be made to reduce the chance these types of flaws will be included in the future. Having an expert available to help review the issues and provide insight into how to use that information to improve your process is valuable.

Having a solid application development process in place is important before thinking about implementing a bug bounty program within your organization. If you are not already doing things consistently, there is a better chance the bounty program will fail.

Bug bounty programs have been becoming more prevalent over the last few years. This is especially true for newer technical startups. We have seen much slower adoption with most of the major corporations. There are many reasons for this, which are outside the scope of this post. There have been questions on whether bug bounties can replace penetration testing. The answer is no, because the goal of each of these is different. There are plenty of articles discussing the subject. A bug bounty program has also been seen by many as the evidence to show they are doing application security. Unfortunately, we can’t test ourselves secure. As I stated previously, testing is just a part of our solution for application security.

A key difference between our traditional testing and a bug bounty program is that bug bounties pay by the bug. Our traditional testing is provided at flat fees. For example, that automated tool is a set price for a month or year subscription. A penetration test is a set price per test. A bug bounty is priced per bug, which makes the cost very unpredictable. In addition, if you are not already doing many of the things previously discussed, there could be a lot of bugs to be found, leading to potentially high payouts.

As I have stated before, penetration testing has a different purpose and it can be very expensive. At Jardine Software we offer more budget friendly manual application security testing at a fixed cost. The goal is not necessarily to find every instance of every vulnerability or to exploit vulnerabilities in the way a penetration test would. The focus is on augmenting the automated testing you may already have in place and to provide that missing manual piece. The testing is performed manually by using the application in combination with Burp Suite, to look for weaknesses and provide those in a way that helps prioritize and then remediate them according to your organization’s needs.

The manual application security testing is typically performed over a week to two weeks and includes a broader scope than a typical bug bounty program. The reason for this is that we want to help identify risks that we see based on our years of experience to make you aware. This assessment can then help identify where you may have issues within your application before opening it up for a crowd sourced bounty program where each bug is priced individually.

If you are thinking about implementing a bug bounty program, reach out and lets chat first. Even if you are not considering a bug bounty program, do you have any manual application security testing implemented? We have the expertise to help provide the necessary testing or provide training for your internal teams to start applying manual testing techniques as part of your life cycle.

January 3, 2018 by James Jardine

New Year’s Resolutions

Here we are, the start of another year. As we reflect on 2017, this is where we really start to focus on what lies ahead in 2018. The new year is always interesting because it usually doesn’t affect our build cycles or releases. With the exception of accounting for vacations. Yet, this is the time of year where many people get re-focused and motivated to change old habits or try something new.

As I look back on 2017, there were a lot of news headlines that focused around security. So many of them highlighting breaches, many termed “mega” breaches. The trend of hyped up headlines glorifying monster breaches will likely continue through 2018 and beyond. We know that breaches can, or will, happen. We have seen examples of different techniques used to gain unauthorized access to data. This won’t change, and will most likely become more prevalent going forward. The amount of information available to potential attackers is enormous, making our job of application security that much more important.

One of the biggest lessons to take away from 2017 is that privacy is important. In addition, private data is not limited to PCI or HIPAA. All sorts of data can be considered private and require the custodian to take proper steps to protect it. It doesn’t matter if the data is held by a Fortune 500 company or a one-person shop. To someone, that data is worth something. As we look into 2018, this reminds us that we must understand what data we have. We must know what type of regulations it may fall under, what applications contain it, and how we are protecting it. Just because data may not fall under a regulation doesn’t mean it should be overlooked. In the end, it is the expectation of our customers and clients that we will handle their data responsibly.

Protecting this data is not about how much money you spend or what tools you buy. Every organization is different. Every application development team is different. I encourage everyone to take the time to research and understand what your team needs to be successful. As in the past, throughout the year I will be posting thoughts on different application security topics. If you have any questions or topics, feel free to share them with me. Looking for someone to talk to about application security? Reach out. I have services available to help organizations and individuals reach new heights and solve problems.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions when it comes to application security?

September 28, 2016 by James Jardine

Scoping your application security assessment (Applications)

Assessing our applications is important because it helps us understand what security controls are efficient, and which ones are not. Whether you call it a vulnerability assessment or a penetration test, often used interchangeably, the value is important. Vulnerability assessments and penetration tests are different. The goals are often different. Many times the techniques are different as well. its s important to understand what you are trying to accomplish.

Today, many applications are spread across multiple technologies and platforms. Unlike in the past, when most applications were just on the web, now many also reside on mobile devices and even other internet of things devices. We must understand how these pieces all fit together and verify that they do not open potential issues for each other. Have a look at the following image showing some of the different components that can be a part of the same application.

Scoping1

Unfortunately, when we see a security assessment performed, we typically focus on one component at a time. We know we need to test the web and mobile applications, but we do them at different times. There are many reasons for this to happen, for example different release schedules, but it is something we must consider.

Look back at the picture above and notice that there are shared APIs and data sources. Data from one application maybe be updated from another. When we perform an assessment on just one of the pieces, we lose the ability to see the effects the other pieces have. Lets look at an example:

Years ago, I worked on a system that had web, windows, and mobile components to it. The web team did an excellent job of limiting input into their application. They were fairly well protected against cross-site scripting payloads, often just by the built in frameworks they used. Unfortunately, the mobile application (which was not effected by XSS) didn’t do as good of a job with their input validation. It was very easy to put XSS payloads into the mobile application and sync them to the server. Then, switching back to the web client, viewing that data would execute the XSS.

This was a multi-part lesson. First, the web team learned that they can’t trust the data in the database. Even though they were fairly well protected against inputs in their application, there were other components updating that same data source. They had to start looking at output encoding their data when they sent it to the browser. Second, it highlighted the fact that these components don’t exist in a silo. They are working together to provide a complete solution. We couldn’t get away with just testing each one on its own. There was a whole class of issues that were left out during the testing phase.

I have seen this time and time again during application assessments and it will only get more common. Each component is different. They react different to different inputs. They store data differently. You never know when that one piece of data, hard-coded into the mobile application, will lead to a compromise on the web application.

During our development and QA stages we will have time to focus on a sole component to make sure that it is functioning as expected. However, we have to identify ways to verify that the components are working together as expected. This doesn’t start with testing, it actually starts with design and understanding the different components. Mapping out the data and how/where it is used. Understanding what that data means to different components can help us understand how it may be used against other components.

If you are getting ready to perform an application penetration test or other security assessments against your applications, consider putting them all into scope. You may be surprised at what may be found.

August 17, 2016 by James Jardine

Should Your Application Have a Security Test?

The world is driven by technology and applications are at the forefront. You see them as corporate site, blogs, business critical applications and on the Internet of Things devices. Some are publicly available, others only available on the internal network. So which ones need to be tested for security?

The simple answer: All of them.

But is it really that simple? Of course, you have to prioritize your focus when performing security testing. There isn’t a strict formula that defines your specific priorities. Lets walk through a few scenarios and think about the potential impact.

Business Critical Applications Exposed to on the Internet

Due to the criticality of these applications, they should be higher on the priority list. Often times, these applications will contain sensitive information, of some sort. This data may be passwords (for login), credit card info, health info, financial info, or other information considered sensitive. Not only do you have a duty to protect your user’s information, you may also be under regulatory oversight.

These critical applications are an obvious target for hackers. These systems are typically public facing, however they require valid user accounts for full access. You shouldn’t assume that because the application requires a login, it isn’t public facing. Due to the availability and criticality of the functionality, these are the most commonly tested types of applications.

Business Critical Applications on the Intranet

Many organizations have applications that are only available on the local network. Like the internet exposed applications, these can still contain sensitive information and be a high priority for the organization. These applications often receive less attention from a security standpoint because they are not publicly available. While the exposure to potential hackers is reduced, these applications should not be completely overlooked due to the risk of an insider threat.

That Marketing Site Hosted by a Third Party

Almost all businesses have some form of marketing site. It is the corporate landing page to provide basic information to potential visitors. Often times these sites are even hosted externally, by a third party. This doesn’t mean they don’t present a risk. One example of this is a watering hole attack. In this scenario, an attacker may take advantage of a benign website that is frequented by a specific group of people. Once the potential victim loads the page, a malicious application may be planted and the user infected.

The risk here may be very different than the attack on business critical applications. Even a full compromise of the site would not be a direct link to business critical/sensitive information. It still must be realized that it does maintain a certain level of risk.

“Smart” Devices

The market is seeing a lot more devices that have internet capabilities. This goes from kids toys, televisions, all the way to automobiles. These types of devices present a different level of risk. You must understand what its availability is: Internal or External. What can the device do if it were to be remotely attacked? What type of data does it handle, and are you protecting that data in both transit and storage?

What Type of Testing Do I Need?

Depending on your risk level, the level of testing may vary. For example, those business critical applications should have an in-depth test performed. This includes both manual penetration testing as well as secure code reviews. For those sites that are at a much lower level, automated testing may be the right start. Application security is about understanding and managing the risks presented. Remember that all applications, no matter their size or functionality, could be a target.

No matter what type of application it is, or what type of testing may be required, a secure development process should be followed. Testing is great for finding flaws after the fact, but it is much better to not introduce them at all. This is done by having application teams that are aware of the types of security issues effecting their applications. This includes training for the teams, secure coding techniques, security testing and secure design. When these things are baked into the process, the external security testing becomes a formality and a last chance effort to find anything overlooked.

Jardine Software helps companies get more value from their application security programs. Let’s talk about how we can help you.

James Jardine is the CEO and Principal Consultant at Jardine Software Inc. He has over 15 years of combined development and security experience. If you are interested in learning more about Jardine Software, you can reach him at james@jardinesoftware.com or @jardinesoftware on twitter.

June 3, 2016 by James Jardine

Understanding the “Why”

If I told you to adjust your seat before adjusting your mirror in your car, would you just do it? Just because I said so, or do you understand why there is a specific order? Most of us retain concepts better when we can understand them logically.

Developing applications requires a lot of moving pieces. An important piece in that process is implementing security controls to help protect the application, the company, and the users. In many organizations, security is heavily guided by an outside group, i.e.. the security group or 3rd party testers.

Listen to the podcast of this topic

Looking at an external test, or even a test by an internal security team, often the result is a report containing findings. These findings typically include a recommendation to guide the application team in a direction to help reduce or mitigate the finding. In my experience, the recommendations tend to be pretty generic. For example, a username harvesting flaw may come with a recommendation to return the same message for both valid and invalid user names. In most cases, this is a valid recommendation as it is the reason for the flaw.

But Why? Why does it matter?

Working with application teams, it quickly becomes clear the level of understanding regarding security topics. The part that is often missing is the Why. Sure, the team can implement a generic message (using the username harvesting flaw above) and it may solve the finding. But does it solve the real issue? What are the chances that when you come back and test another app for this same development team that the flaw may exist somewhere else? When we take the time to really explain why this finding is a concern, how it can be abused, and start discussing ways to mitigate it, the team gets better. Push aside the “sky is falling” and take the time to understand the application and context.

As security professionals we focus too much on fixing a vulnerability. Don’t get me wrong, the vulnerability should be fixed, but we are too focused. Taking a step back allows us to see a better approach. It is much more than just identifying flaws. It is about getting the application teams to understand why they are flaws (not just because security said so) so they become a consideration in future development. This includes the entire application team, not just developers. Lets look at another example.

An Example

Let’s say that you have a change password form that doesn’t require the current password. As a security professional, your wheels are probably spinning. Thinking about issues like CSRF. From a development side, the typical response “Why do I need to input my password when I just did that to login to change my password?” While the change will most likely get made, because security said it had too, there is still a lack of understanding from the application team. If CSRF was your first reason, what if they have CSRF protections already in place? Do you have another reason? What about if the account is hijacked somehow, or a person sits at the user’s desk and they forgot to lock their PC? By explaining the reasoning behind the requirement, it starts to make sense and is better received. It dominos into a chance that the next project that is developed will take this into consideration.

When the business analysts sits down to write the next change password user story, it will be a part of it. Not because security said so, but because they understand the use case better and how to protect it.

If you are receiving test results, take the time to make sure you understand the findings and the WHY. It will help providing a learning objective as well as reduce the risk of not correcting the problem. Understand how the issue and remediation effects your application and users.

Thinking about starting a bug bounty? Do this first.

New Year’s Resolutions

Scoping your application security assessment (Applications)

Should Your Application Have a Security Test?

Understanding the “Why”

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