How to hack any Whatsapp account

 Introduction to Penetration

Testing and Web Applications

 

A web application uses the HTTP protocol for client-server communication and requires a

web browser as the client interface. It is probably the most ubiquitous type of application in

modern companies, from Human Resources' organizational climate surveys to IT technical

services for a company's website. Even thick and mobile applications and many Internet of

Things (IoT) devices make use of web components through web services and the web

interfaces that are embedded into them.

Not long ago, it was thought that security was necessary only at the organization's

perimeter and only at network level, so companies spent considerable amount of money on

physical and network security. With that, however, came a somewhat false sense of security

because of their reliance on web technologies both inside and outside of the organization. In

recent years and months, we have seen news of spectacular data leaks and breaches of

millions of records including information such as credit card numbers, health histories,

home addresses, and the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of people from all over the

world. Many of these attacks were started by exploiting a web vulnerability or design

failure.Modern organizations acknowledge that they depend on web applications and web

technologies, and that they are as prone to attack as their network and operating

systems—if not more so. This has resulted in an increase in the number of companies who

provide protection or defense services against web attacks, as well as the appearance or

growth of technologies such as Web Application Firewall (WAF), Runtime Application

Self-Protection (RASP), web vulnerability scanners, and source code scanners. Also, there

has been an increase in the number of organizations that find it valuable to test the security

of their applications before releasing them to end users, providing an opportunity for

talented hackers and security professionals to use their skills to find flaws and provide

advice on how to fix them, thereby helping companies, hospitals, schools, and governments

to have more secure applications and increasingly improved software development

practices.

Proactive security testing

Penetration testing and ethical hacking are proactive ways of testing web applications by

performing attacks that are similar to a real attack that could occur on any given day. They

are executed in a controlled way with the objective of finding as many security flaws as

possible and to provide feedback on how to mitigate the risks posed by such flaws.

It is very beneficial for companies to perform security testing on applications before

releasing them to end users. In fact, there are security-conscious corporations that have

nearly completely integrated penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and source

code reviews in their software development cycle. Thus, when they release a new

application, it has already been through various stages of testing and remediation.

Different testing methodologies

People are often confused by the following terms, using them interchangeably without

understanding that, although some aspects of these terms overlap, there are also subtle

differences that require your attention:

Ethical hacking

Penetration testing

Vulnerability assessment

Security audits

Ethical hacking

Very few people realize that hacking is a misunderstood term; it means different things to

different people, and more often than not a hacker is thought of as a person sitting in a dark

enclosure with no social life and malicious intent. Thus, the word ethical is prefixed here to

the term, hacking. The term, ethical hacker is used to refer to professionals who work to

identify loopholes and vulnerabilities in systems, report it to the vendor or owner of the

system, and, at times, help them fix the system. The tools and techniques used by an ethical

hacker are similar to the ones used by a cracker or a black hat hacker, but the aim is

different as it is used in a more professional way. Ethical hackers are also known as security

researchers.

History of Penetration testing

Penetration testing is a term that we will use very often in this book, and it is a subset often in this book, and it is a subset of

ethical hacking. It is a more professional term used to describe what an ethical hacker does.

If you are planning a career in ethical hacking or security testing, then you would often see

job postings with the title, Penetration Tester. Although penetration testing is a subset of

ethical hacking, it differs in many ways. It's a more streamlined way of identifying

vulnerabilities in systems and finding out if the vulnerability is exploitable or not.

Penetration testing is governed by a contract between the tester and owner of the systems to

be tested. You need to define the scope of the test in order to identify the systems to be

tested. Rules of Engagement need to be defined, which determines the way in which the

testing is to be done.

Vulnerability assessment

At times, organizations might want only to identify the vulnerabilities that exist in their

systems without actually exploiting them and gaining access. Vulnerability assessments are

broader than penetration tests. The end result of vulnerability assessment is a report

prioritizing the vulnerabilities found, with the most severe ones listed at the top and the

ones posing a lesser risk appearing lower in the report. This report is very helpful for clients

who know that they have security issues and who need to identify and prioritize the most

critical ones.

Security audits

Auditing is a systematic procedure that is used to measure the state of a system against a

predetermined set of standards. These standards can be industry best practices or an in-

house checklist. The primary objective of an audit is to measure and report on conformance.

If you are auditing a web server, some of the initial things to look out for are the open ports

on the server, harmful HTTP methods, such as TRACE, enabled on the server, the encryption

standard used, and the key length.