Guidelines for application security.
So when you're performing a test, you're going to need to cover everything within the scope.
That's why scope definition comes up first.
Your method should be convincing and persuasive.
So it's always good to catch industry standards while you're testing.
This will help you to be reliable.
But I don't want to prevent you from applying your own methods, you need your own personal toolbox.
The point here is the way you accomplish your method and how you present it so you can do many great
things while you're hacking the system.
But if your method isn't clear, determinant and reproducible, I'm sorry this is going to impact the
quality of your work, it will suffer.
So let's assume that you are going to perform a test on an application.
You may know about some of the vulnerabilities and maybe you have many hacking tricks up your sleeve.
But if you don't have at least a checklist, you're going to be stuck at the beginning.
And you're going to get stuck during the test.
So the questions where, when, how to start, what to do.
These are going to start to plague you.
So therefore, you might actually forget to go all around the scope.
After gaining enough experience, you might be able to do this on the fly, but don't expect to become
an expert overnight.
That's going to take time.
Even an experienced tester needs a base while organizing a pen test on a professional scale.
So you understand what I'm saying, having a plan is always a better way, that way you don't leave
anything untested.
So you follow a rigorous plan and that will help you to provide consistent, valuable information to
the customer.
So why do I go on and on about this, because when you think about conducting a penetration test on
an organization, you need to do the tests according to the specification document, the testing guide,
the checklist, or at least a benchmark.
You aren't forced to follow a guide, however, it's going to add value to your methods and create a
base for the person who will read your final report.
It's also how you get a real good reputation.
Now, maybe you have these kinds of plans in house so that you can conduct security operations.
Also, there are many organizations which have particular guidelines and frameworks and checklists and
benchmarks and those kinds of tools to engage in web penetration test, but guess what?
They were created with different perspectives.
All of them will give you a new aspect of the security and web penetration testing process.
But I'll tell you, there is no right answer.
But this election can have an impact on the architecture and result in a strengths and weaknesses report
for the result.
For many industries, compliance and regulations will also drive your choice.
I'm not going to tell you about all of them because some of them aren't even up to date.
So here I can give you two options to follow so that you can get more information about web penetration
testing.
The first approach is certification focused.
So there are many Web security certifications out there and they have a variety of different perspectives.
They're going to have defensive purposes, offensive purposes, and some of them can actually include
SDLC and then have a mixed purpose of security.
So here, I'm going to show you two offensive purpose certificates that you can follow along each one
of their topics while you're testing.
Or you could try to get them to improve your career standing.
So the first certificate is the Gyasi Web Application Penetration Testing Certificate.
The second one is off SEC Web expert certificate, so also you can find a Web application, security
as topics and some general purpose certificates such as SC Counsel C.H..
Now, the second approach is following open guides and checklists.
So this way is more formal and it perhaps can suit you best if you want to be a Web penetration tester.
Some of these guides are very well crafted and maintained, while others they might have been neglected
for a few years.
There are also several general purpose guides, such as Ezzy Coms and Ghostman and Pretests, you can
always find them and I'm sure you'll be able to understand your way through them.
But guess what, those are the neglected ones.
All right, so finally, here's my point when we're talking about Web security, you may have heard
of a WASP.
It's a nonprofit organization which they produce guides, cheat sheets and many other things about application
security.
So in this course, mainly, I'm going to take a WASPs testing guide for my base.
Now, I'm not going to follow every single item in the guide, though.
I am going to add some other topics so you can go and check the details of the document on the old WASP
website if you want.