If your company or organization has a web application, you should be performing security testing on that application. Security testing can help you ensure that your web application is safe for use and free of security vulnerabilities.

Web testing services scan your web applications for common security vulnerabilities, such as cross-site scripting or SQL injection.

A few of the many reasons your app needs security testing include:

1. Testing can find serious vulnerabilities before a hacker does

Security vulnerabilities are how hackers find their way into apps. While some vulnerabilities may always exist or might not even be discovered yet, testing can help find the most serious security holes. Penetration testing, for example, is a type of security testing that finds security holes in applications and networks. Penetration tests can be performed by independent security testers or by an organization’s own employees.

There are many different types of security tests that can be performed to evaluate the security of a system. Some of the most important types of tests include:

• Network testing
• Client-side testing
• Database testing
• Brute force attacks
• SQL injection
• Many more

Security testing can help your team find and patch security risks before releasing your web app to the public.

2. Testing allows you to launch apps without worry

Web apps have, on average, 22 vulnerabilities, with four of these vulnerabilities being major security risks. When you launch your web app, after months or years of development, the last thing you want is your app to be hacked.

It’s a terrifying thought to know that hackers could have access to your system and kill your app’s potential before it gains traction.

A staggering 90% of web apps have vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit, including:

• SQL injection attacks
• Unvalidated redirect
• Cross-site scripting
• Stealing credentials

If you want to give your app the best chance of success, in-depth security testing can help.

3. Testing can verify that an app is meeting industry guidelines and standards

If you’re concerned about how to protect your web application from security threats, you’re not alone. Entire industries are being built around web apps, and guidelines and standards have been created to help keep web apps secure.

Your web app is more vulnerable when you don’t follow the industry’s best practices.

A few of the many security-best practices that you should follow are:

• Perform threat assessments
• Encrypt user data
• Manage privileges
• Implement patching protocols
• Sanitize user input

When development teams follow industry standards and guidelines when developing an app, it helps keep the app safer, reduces the risk of user data being accessed, and makes the app generally more secure.

Taking a security-centric approach to web app development from the start reduces overhead and risks.

4. Testing ensures that the app’s security meets customer standards

Customer standards are high. When you perform security testing, you’ll often detect critical issues and bugs that can make an app vulnerable to attack. This can be a big deal, especially if your app handles sensitive information.

Identifying and correcting key security vulnerabilities can make a huge difference in your app’s security. With so many apps being developed these days, it’s not enough for an app to be secure — it must also meet customer standards.

Users of a web app have a certain level of standards that your web app will:

• Function properly without causing system slowdowns
• Retain data in a secure way, which often means being encrypted
• Not cause system vulnerabilities
• Meet the same standard or higher compared to other industry competitors

App security is all about your users and their data. If you’re not putting a major focus on your customers’ needs and security, you’ll eventually lose them. Hackers will not stop trying to find new, innovative ways to find and exploit vulnerabilities.

As your web app grows in popularity and features, your app will become an even bigger target for hackers.

5. Testing can determine whether the app’s security needs to be improved

If you’re planning to launch a web application, it’s important to perform security testing before going live. The benefit of security testing is that it can determine whether the application’s security needs to be improved before launch.

There’s a lot that can go wrong when it comes to web apps at and after launch.

Initially, testing will ensure that your application isn’t vulnerable initially, but even a tiny feature addition or tweak that you’ve made can open a security hole in your application.

Routine testing should be performed, including:

• Penetration testing
• Vulnerability scanning
• OWASP adherence
• Black box testing

Continuous integration and continuous delivery methods can create workflows that always have routine testing in place. Feedback loops can be established to allow for routine changes to be made as threats are discovered to correct issues before being exploited. Developers should also take time to analyse and investigate any third-party software, systems, or additions to a web app to ensure that the code is secure.

All it takes is a single vulnerability to open your web app to hackers and exploits. Even though you take stringent security precautions, even the largest tech companies in the world have been the focus of hackers that have gained access to user and company data.

Security testing should be an ongoing process. Vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered. In fact, there were a total of 18,000+ vulnerabilities recorded in 2020 alone. Routine testing is paramount to keeping your web application safer today and in the future.