Best Practices for Security Testing

Posted on by uplatzblog

Best Practices for Security Testing

  • As part of the “Best Practices” series by Uplatz

 

Welcome to the defense-first edition of the Uplatz Best Practices series — where we harden your applications, APIs, and infrastructure before attackers can exploit them.
 Today’s focus: Security Testing — ensuring your system is protected, not just functional.

🔐 What is Security Testing?

Security Testing is the process of identifying vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and risks in software systems — before attackers do.
 It includes:

  • Static Analysis (SAST) – code-level scanning

  • Dynamic Analysis (DAST) – runtime behavior checks

  • Penetration Testing – ethical hacking

  • Dependency Scanning – checking open-source libraries

  • Secrets Detection, Input Validation, Access Control Testing, etc.

Security testing is crucial for trust, compliance, and resilience in modern software.

✅ Best Practices for Security Testing

Security isn’t just a phase — it’s a continuous process across your SDLC. Here’s how to make it proactive, automated, and effective:

1. Shift Security Left

👩‍💻 Incorporate Security From Day One
 🔍 Run Static Code Scans (e.g., SonarQube, Semgrep) During Dev
 🔁 Include Secure Coding in Peer Reviews and CI Pipelines

2. Automate Scanning in CI/CD

🧪 Integrate SAST, DAST, and SCA Tools Into Build Pipelines
 📦 Scan Code, Dependencies, Containers, and IaC (e.g., with Trivy, Snyk, Checkov)
 🚦 Fail Builds on Critical Vulnerabilities

3. Perform Manual and Automated Penetration Tests

💣 Hire or Train Ethical Hackers to Simulate Real Attacks
 🔍 Use OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, Metasploit for Black Box Testing
 🎯 Focus on Auth Bypass, Privilege Escalation, and Input Exploits

4. Scan for Secrets and Credentials

🔑 Detect Leaked API Keys, Tokens, and Passwords in Code
 🔍 Use Tools Like GitLeaks, TruffleHog, or GitHub Secret Scanning
 🧤 Enforce Vaults and Secret Managers (Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)

5. Test Authentication and Authorization Controls

🔐 Validate MFA, OAuth2, JWT Expiry, and Session Handling
 🚫 Attempt Broken Access and Role Escalation Attacks
 🔁 Simulate API Abuse or Forgotten Logout Logic

6. Test Input Validation and Injection Prevention

⚠️ Check for SQL Injection, XSS, Command Injection, Path Traversal
 📦 Fuzz Input Fields, Headers, and URLs With Malicious Payloads
 🔄 Use Input Sanitization Libraries and Web App Firewalls

7. Scan 3rd-Party Libraries and Containers

📦 Use Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
 🧱 Check Docker Images for Vulnerabilities
 📘 Use CVE Databases and SBOMs (Software Bill of Materials)

8. Conduct Security Regression Testing

🔁 Re-test Fixed Vulnerabilities Regularly
 📋 Create Test Cases for Past Incidents or Audit Findings
 🔍 Ensure Patches Don’t Get Reverted

9. Simulate Real-World Attacks

🧠 Run Red Team vs Blue Team Exercises
 💣 Test Attack Vectors: Email Phishing, DNS Spoofing, Credential Stuffing
 📡 Use MITRE ATT&CK Framework for Threat Modeling

10. Report and Prioritize Risks Transparently

📊 Track Findings by Severity (CVSS) and Impact
 📈 Expose Dashboards to Engineering, Security, and Leadership
 🧾 Create Fix Plans With Owners, Deadlines, and Acceptance Tests

💡 Bonus Tip by Uplatz

Security isn’t solved with a scan — it’s sustained through culture.
 Make every developer a security champion. Make every test a gatekeeper.

🔁 Follow Uplatz to get more best practices in upcoming posts:

  • DevSecOps Automation Pipelines

  • Threat Modeling With OWASP

  • Secure API Gateway Configuration

  • Compliance-Driven Security Testing (ISO, HIPAA, PCI-DSS)

  • Fuzzing, Red Teaming, and Runtime Shielding
     …and much more on secure SDLC, cloud security, and platform hardening.