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The world of information security is ever-evolving as further innovation and development continue to drive the market forward. Web applications are no exception, but as they grow more complex with the addition of new features and supporting technology, so do their attack surfaces. Sometimes, it can feel like the latest risk to your web application is seemingly around the corner, and really, that might be true—it’s become more important than ever to maintain a good security posture.

There’s a Latin proverb that says, “if the wind will not serve, take to the oars.” If you’ve ever hunted for a (new) job, you likely can relate. Of course, every workplace has its idiosyncrasies, but you need to find the “wind” that serves you best.

When you’re applying for a new job, you have your reasons—whether it’s to find a new challenge or to escape a toxic workplace, you want to trust that somewhere else will be better for you and your career. But when you’re sending off applications, it’s hard to know what you might be getting yourself into—most times, you won’t know until you’ve signed your new employment contract and are in (a new set) of weeds.

When conducting a web application penetration test, cross-site scripting (XSS) is one of the most common vulnerabilities identified by testers—it stems from an application’s lack of sanitization when certain characters are rendered from user-controlled input. 

If you’ve ever created payloads for different pen testing or red team projects, you might have run into the problem that comes after bypassing antivirus/endpoint detection and response (AV/EDRs)—after successfully circumventing these, the code and techniques used only works for a few weeks or months before getting flagged as malicious. 

If you’re running a business online, you’re likely providing an application program interface (API) on your website that allows your customers or business partners to enter and retrieve data. At Schellman, we primarily see REST-based APIs, but we’ve also tested GraphQL and occasionally SOAP.

So, you’re investing in cybersecurity and are having a web application penetration test performed. No matter your reasons for doing so—whether you’re satisfying compliance requirements, a customer request, internally assessing your flagship service offering or confirming security policies—this is a great step towards strengthening your defenses.

For the first time since 2017, the FedRAMP Project Management Office (PMO) has updated the Penetration Testing Guidance document.