Comparing Mobile & Web Application Penetration Testing
Pentesting mobile applications is quite different from pentesting web applications. Comparing the two processes lets us make better choices for our security systems and saves time and money.
According to the IEEE Network Security Journal (November 2017), there are more than one billion users worldwide and 2.5 million applications across digital marketplaces. Although mobile device applications (apps) are an incredible innovation, these apps are potential targets because hackers can insert malicious data to invade information in portable devices.
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What Is a Mobile Application?
Mobile apps are categorized as either native apps, mobile web apps or hybrid apps.
- Native apps are built into the mobile operating systems of specific platforms such as Windows, iOS or Android devices. One big advantage of native apps is we can access data in offline mode, e.g., Google Maps.
- Mobile web apps are web pages built with HTML5, JavaScript and CSS applications on a web browser. They look like native apps but require an Internet connection to access data.
- Hybrid apps are developed as a combination of native and mobile web apps and reused to build apps on multiple platforms.
Mobile apps are less cumbersome, open faster and improve overall usability.
What Is a Web Application?
Web apps are platform-independent software programs that run on a web server. Web apps like Microsoft Office or Google Drive store and share data simultaneously from a central repository. They are convenient to use, accessible to multiple users and unfortunately, susceptible to security breaches.
How is the Web App Environment Different from the Mobile App Environment?
The web app environment is less complex than the mobile app environment. As web apps are platform independent, they can adapt to any device platform (iOS, Android or Windows).
Web app pentesting assess communication between start and end points in a corporate network, hosting servers such as Chrome or Firefox, and devices with access (network gateway, firewalls and repositories like Microsoft SQL server).
Mobile app pentesting, however, assesses apps on Android, iOS and Windows phone applications. It looks for security cracks in personal and enterprise mobile devices such as smartwatches, smartphones, tablets, laptops and their network in a corporate environment.
Source:
Top 10 Mobile Security Risks
Source:
Top 10 Web Security Risks
How Are the Web App Vulnerabilities Different from Mobile App Vulnerabilities?
Web apps are more vulnerable than mobile apps because web apps store data remotely on the Internet. These data are exposed to client and server-side attacks. At the same time, there are many loopholes in mobile apps as our devices interact with aberrant app stores, Bluetooth, Short Message Services (SMS), microphone, camera, etc.,
How Is the Web App Pentesting Process Different from Mobile App Pentesting?
Pentesting mobile apps is more complex because mobile apps have personalized customizations such as native, mobile web, and hybrid apps. The developed apps' code is also not reusable in other environments.
Pentesting mobile apps requires additional permutation of testing strategies to think like hackers and test various platforms. On the other hand, web app pentesting is highly dependent on robust web browsers that involve testing real-time, simulated scenarios in various browsers on a remote network.
What should you learn next?
Summary
Both mobile and web app pentesting are complex in their own ways. Though web apps are platform independent, their 24/7 Internet connectivity makes web apps more prone to attacks. Hence, web apps are constantly pentested and monitored against threats. At the same time, the advancements in mobile devices and their different operating systems create tediousness in performing mobile app pentesting.
Sources
In this Series
- Comparing Mobile & Web Application Penetration Testing
- Top 10 Linux distro for ethical hacking and penetration testing
- Penetration testing steps: How-to guide on pentesting
- How does automated penetration testing work?
- Intelligence-led pentesting and the evolution of Red Team operations
- Red Teaming: Taking advantage of Certify to attack AD networks
- How ethical hacking and pentesting is changing in 2022
- Ransomware penetration testing: Verifying your ransomware readiness
- Red Teaming: Main tools for wireless penetration tests
- Fundamentals of IoT firmware reverse engineering
- Red Teaming: Top tools and gadgets for physical assessments
- Red teaming: Initial access and foothold
- Top tools for red teaming
- What is penetration testing, anyway?
- Red Teaming: Persistence Techniques
- Red Teaming: Credential dumping techniques
- Top 6 bug bounty programs for cybersecurity professionals
- Tunneling and port forwarding tools used during red teaming assessments
- SigintOS: Signal Intelligence via a single graphical interface
- Top tools for mobile android assessments
- Top tools for mobile iOS assessments
- Red Team: C2 frameworks for pentesting
- Inside 1,602 pentests: Common vulnerabilities, findings and fixes
- Red teaming tutorial: Active directory pentesting approach and tools
- Red Team tutorial: A walkthrough on memory injection techniques
- Python for active defense: Monitoring
- Python for active defense: Network
- Python for active defense: Decoys
- How to write a port scanner in Python in 5 minutes: Example and walkthrough
- Using Python for MITRE ATT&CK and data encrypted for impact
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK exfiltration and non-application layer protocol
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK command-and-control
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK email collection and clipboard data
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK lateral movement and remote services
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK account and directory discovery
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK credential access and network sniffing
- Top 10 security tools for bug bounty hunters
- Kali Linux: Top 5 tools for password attacks
- Kali Linux: Top 5 tools for post exploitation
- Kali Linux: Top 5 tools for database security assessments
- Kali Linux: Top 5 tools for information gathering
- Kali Linux: Top 5 tools for sniffing and spoofing
- Kali Linux: Top 8 tools for wireless attacks
- Kali Linux: Top 5 tools for penetration testing reporting
- Kali Linux overview: 14 uses for digital forensics and pentesting
- Top 19 Kali Linux tools for vulnerability assessments
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK persistence
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK defense evasion
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK privilege escalation
- Explore Python for MITRE ATT&CK initial access
- Top 18 tools for vulnerability exploitation in Kali Linux
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