Web Application Penetration Testing

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What Does Web Application Penetration Testing Mean?

Web application penetration testing is the process of using penetration testing techniques on a web application to detect its vulnerabilities.

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It is similar to a penetration test and aims to break into the web application using any penetration attacks or threats.

Techopedia Explains Web Application Penetration Testing

Web application penetration testing works by using manual or automated penetration tests to identify any vulnerability, security flaws or threats in a web application. The tests involve using/implementing any of the known malicious penetration attacks on the application. The penetration tester exhibits/fabricates attacks and environment from an attacker’s perspective, such as using SQL injection tests. The web application penetration testing key outcome is to identify security weakness across the entire web application and its components (source code, database, back-end network). It also helps in prioritizing the identified vulnerabilities and threats, and possible ways to mitigate them.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.