What is the Difference between WAPT and VAPT?

Cybersecurity is important for all organizations as cyber threats are relentlessly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Different businesses cover up digital assets, for instance, they perform Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT) and Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT). Both methodologies try to find and eliminate security vulnerabilities with different aims, scopes, and executions. Qualysec Technologies is here to discuss what are the differences between WAPT and VAPT, their methods, benefits, and what is the role of VAPT and WAPT in a secure cyber system.

What is WAPT and VAPT?

VAPT (Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing) is a Cyber security process that is used to evaluate the level of security of an organization’s entire IT infrastructure. Vulnerability scanning and pen testing are part of it to identify and eliminate threats on the networks, applications, and systems. VAPT in turn includes WAPT (Web Application Penetration Testing) for web applications to spot vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF. VAPT does a wider security analysis that only WAPT is tailored for web security.

WAPT (Web Application Penetration Testing)

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT) is a specialty in the security assessment area to find the vulnerabilities in web applications. Web Applications are almost prime targets for hackers and WAPT seeks to find flaws that would allow the hacker to get sensitive data, disrupt services, or access data without authorization.

Important Points for WAPT (Web Application Penetration Testing)

Web Application Penetration Testing (WAPT) is a security testing methodology which is used to evaluate the vulnerabilities in a web application. Since web applications are being pursued as a priority target by cyber criminals, WAPT envisages the position of utmost crucial tool in conception of security and data privacy. Below are the main items from WAPT:

Scope

WAPT has a singular focus on web applications, which are websites, web portals, web API, and virtual web services. While wider security evaluation, WAPT does not evaluate networks, servers, or mobile apps. This tool is primarily designed to locate security vulnerabilities in web-based systems that hackers could breach even when they are applied on your business.

Testing Methodology

WAPT utilizes structured methodology which covers automated & manual web application security testing techniques to identify web vulnerabilities. The testing methodology typically includes:

• Reconnaissance – The process of gathering facts about the target web application, software used, and vulnerable data.
• Scanning & Enumeration – Opening ports, services, etc. and finding potential vulnerabilities.
• Exploit – Trying to take advantage of discovered vulnerabilities to prove in the real world how deep the hole can get.
• Reporting & Remediation – Capturing of findings, displaying of risk advisory, composing of security fixes.

Common Vulnerabilities Identified

WAPT can automatically discover most known security vulnerabilities such as:

• SQL Injection (SQLi) – Allows attackers to manipulate databases using malicious queries
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) – Whereby an attacker can inject malicious scripts into web pages that are viewed by users.
• Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) – Tricks the victim into performing unwanted actions on existing authenticated web applications.
• Security Misconfiguration – Poor security settings in the application allow it to be vulnerable to attacks.
• Broken Authentication & Session Management – Exploiting weaknesses in user authentication and session management to steal them.

Tools Used for WAPT

Several specialized tools assist the security practitioner in successfully conducting WAPT. Some of the frequently used WAPT tools are:

• Burp Suite – A widely used tool for assessing the security of a web application. It includes an advanced proxy, scanner, intruder, and module.
• OWASP ZAP – Zed Attack Proxy – A free tool for black box security testing of web applications.
• Acunetix – A highly effective web vulnerability scanner spotting vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS and more.
• Netsparker – Machine automatically identifies web application vulnerabilities with high accuracy.

Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

• WAPT is significant to fulfill different security compliance requirements, including:
• OWASP Top 10 – A widely adopted list of the top web application vulnerabilities.
• PCI-DSS – A mandatory security standard for organizations handling credit card transactions.
• GDPR – A regulation that emphasizes safeguarding user data privacy.