Quick Guide to Pen Testing Cloud Applications

Quick Guide to Pen Testing Cloud Applications

Cloud computing is booming and many businesses are making it the backbone of their IT infrastructure. This type of infrastructure may seem safe because it’s not in your office and you don’t have to worry about physical security. However, it doesn’t imply that it is free from malicious attacks. In reality, the cloud has its own vulnerabilities that need to be taken into account before an attack can be launched against it. Pentesting cloud will help you be certain that you are doing everything in your power to keep your company safe from cybercriminals who want nothing more than financial gain.

Before diving into securing your cloud application, there are a few things to consider: what tools should be used? What areas should be tested? How do you test them? This post provides a quick guide to cloud penetration testing, but before we get into the details, let’s have a look at who is responsible for securing your company and what you can do to ensure maximum security.

Who Is Responsible For Cloud Application Security?

The responsibility for cloud security is generally shared among all parties involved. However, to what extent, would depend on the type of cloud model used.

With the IaaS model (Infrastructure as a Service), the provider is responsible for securing the cloud resources they provide you with. The responsibility for securing applications and data running those resources falls into the hands of the customer.

In a PaaS deployment (Platform as a Service), both the provider and the user share the responsibility for security. As a customer, you will be responsible for the security of your data while the provider takes charge of securing their platform.

With SaaS (Software as a Service), the service provider is solely in charge of securing their deployed software or application. However, to avoid data breaches, security measures need to be taken on the customer’s end as well.

With all that being said, customers should partner with their providers to ensure that both are doing everything possible to secure the environment.

What is Cloud Penetration Testing?

Online penetration testing of a cloud infrastructure model provides you with an overview of your security status and allows you to identify issues that can be exploited by cybercriminals for financial gain. It is important because it will show where exactly vulnerabilities may exist- on the cloud platform, in applications or within the data.

How is Cloud Pen Testing Different From Standard Pen Testing?

The main difference between cloud and traditional penetration testing is that the focus of a cloud assessment should be on the applications and data owned by you. Moreover, your cloud provider would have terms and conditions for this prohibiting certain types of penetration tests as it could affect others using their services. Testers will have to take into account the unique security challenges posed by the cloud to identify vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could exploit. Additionally, you’ll want to consider how the infrastructure is configured and the resources that are available to you.

What To Consider When Pentesting Cloud Applications?

You will have to consider many factors that are unique to your organisation, such as:

  • resources available to you and your provider
  • compliance requirements
  • security concerns of employees using the cloud platform for work purposes
  • access control
  • identity and authentication
  • cryptography
  • physical security
  • logging and monitoring
  • data security

You may also want to consider using a professional penetration testing service that specialises in cloud environments such as Astra Security if you want to be sure that all bases are covered.

How to Build Cloud Based Applications [Complete Guide]

How Do You Do Penetration Testing On The Cloud?

If you choose to do this without any external help there are still some steps involved in penetration testing of a cloud infrastructure that is similar to those in a typical penetration test. This includes:

  • Gathering information on clients and their environment
  • Conducting reconnaissance of your target(s)
  • Determining attackable surface area through security assessments such as penetration tests, vulnerability scans, VAPT, source code analysis etc.
  • Selecting appropriate tools and techniques for the task at hand
  • Executing your attack plan
  • Documenting findings, including steps to reproduce issues
  • Reporting back to the client with prioritised recommendations
  • Work out how testers will gain access to cloud resources to execute attacks. Do you want to give them access directly by logging in to the target environment or want them to hack the cloud platform from the outside?

You’ll also want to test for vulnerabilities in the operating system and applications, as well as identify any sensitive data that may be present on the cloud.

Now that we have a general understanding of cloud penetration testing, let’s take a look at some of the best tools available for testers.

9 Best Tools for Cloud Penetration Testing:

The following set of tools was developed specifically to test different areas in the cloud such as web applications, mobile apps and IaaS components:

The following are seven popular tools for pentesting cloud applications:

  • Astra Pentest – This tool is used for identifying security risks in the cloud, and also provides a mechanism for assessing and mitigating those risks.
  • Fortify on Demand – This commercial tool offers static and dynamic analysis of applications that are hosted in the cloud.
  • Metasploit – This is a popular penetration testing tool that includes modules for attacking all sorts of environments including cloud applications.
  • OWASP ZAP – This is a well-known open-source tool that helps identify security flaws in web applications.
  • SQLMap – This open-source tool allows you to automatically scan SQL injection vulnerabilities in websites, as well as exploit those vulnerabilities by taking over the database management system (DBMS).
  • Wapiti –  This open-source tool is used to find known vulnerabilities in websites that hackers may already be exploiting, such as cross-site scripting (XSS), broken authentication mechanisms and SQL injections. It’s best for developers who want to identify ongoing risks early on before they can be exploited by cybercriminals.
  • CloudSploit – This tool is used to find known vulnerabilities in public clouds that hackers may be exploiting already.
  • Burp Suite – This is a Java-based platform for testing web applications that includes a proxy server, scanner, and intruder.
  • WebScarab – This tool is used for intercepting and modifying traffic between a browser and web server. It is also used for spidering and analysing web applications.

Final Thoughts…

Cloud penetration testing should be part of your overall security strategy and should be conducted on a regular basis to ensure that your company’s data is safe from cybercriminals. By following the tips provided in this post, you can help protect your cloud applications, which will help you avoid costly downtime or data breaches.

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