Understanding Incremental Penetration Testing

Security Testing Challenges for Frequently Updated Applications

Traditional Penetration Testing methods often struggle to keep up with the fast pace of agile development. These methods can slow down the application release process because they aren’t designed for frequent, quick updates. Testing an application after every release can be expensive and time-consuming, especially when the same issues are found repeatedly, and the same parts of the application are tested multiple times. This repetition wastes resources and makes it hard to fix security issues quickly within the short timeframes of development. Additionally, keeping track of the issues found in each testing cycle can become difficult, making it harder to resolve them effectively.

Understanding Incremental Penetration Testing

An Incremental Penetration Test is an approach of security testing that focuses specifically on evaluating the security of new or modified features in an application since the last comprehensive, full penetration test. Instead of testing the entire application, the incremental test assesses only those areas that have undergone changes, ensuring that the latest updates or additions do not introduce new vulnerabilities. This approach is particularly efficient in environments where applications are frequently updated, as it reduces the time and resources needed for testing while maintaining security assurance.

Securityium’s Incremental Testing Benefits

• Agile Development Compatible: Perfectly suited for fast-paced, ever-changing development environments.
• Cost-Effective Testing: Reduces costs by focusing only on new or changed components, avoiding re-testing of areas that haven’t been modified.
• Prevents Repeated Issues: Helps to avoid the recurrence of vulnerabilities that were already addressed in previous tests.
• Accelerates Release Cycles: Speeds up the development and release process by streamlining the testing phase.
• Rapid Vulnerability Detection: Enables quicker identification of security issues, reducing the time between vulnerability emergence and detection.

Approach of Incremental Penetration Testing

Managing incremental penetration testing can be complex, as it involves precisely tracking each security issue while ensuring that new changes are properly considered in every testing cycle. Securityium’s approach to incremental pentesting is highly adaptive and efficient, thanks to our ProSecurity Portal. With decades of experience, we have perfected this process, making it seamless for our clients. You simply need to provide the change logs or release notes, and our testing team takes care of the rest.

We ensure that all affected components are thoroughly tested, tracked, and remediated as needed. The ProSecurity Portal streamlines the entire process, offering detailed insights and robust tracking capabilities, which allows us to manage testing and releases efficiently. This ensures that every aspect of your application is comprehensively tested, providing you with peace of mind and security.

Minimum Requirements for Incremental Penetration Testing

• Clear Release Notes: Always maintain clean, detailed, and well-documented release notes. This ensures that the testing team accurately understands what has changed and can focus on the relevant areas during incremental testing.
• Regular Updates: Schedule 2-3 major or minor releases annually, depending on the size and complexity of the application. This helps in balancing the frequency of updates with the thoroughness of security testing.
• Annual Full Testing: Conduct a comprehensive penetration test at least once a year to ensure that the entire application is secure. This full test complements the incremental tests by addressing any potential gaps and providing a complete security overview.

At Securityium, we focus on finding security weaknesses in systems and testing them to keep businesses safe through Vulnerability assessments and Penetration Testing. Our goal is to provide accurate, quick,  and scalable security solutions that fit businesses of all sizes. We strive to be your leading cybersecurity partner, known for our expertise in identifying vulnerabilities and helping you stay secure.