RE: Application Assessment

["Ory Segal" <osegal () watchfire com>]

 Hi,

You should also check: http://www.webappsec.org (Web Application
Security Consortium)

With regards to utilities, you can download the free Watchfire
Powertools (HTTP Proxy, HTTP request editor, etc.), here's the link:
http://www.watchfire.com/securityzone/download/default.aspx 

At the same link, you can also download eval versions of Watchfire's
AppScan product (An automated application security scanner).

You can also find basic and advanced whitepapers on the subject at:
http://www.watchfire.com/news/whitepapers.aspx

-Ory


-----Original Message-----
From: Glyn Geoghegan [mailto:glyng () corsaire com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 4:48 AM
To: goenw
Cc: pen-test () securityfocus com; Webappsec
Subject: Re: Application Assessment

On 8 Aug 2005, at 12:53, goenw wrote:

> Hi,
>
> anybody have experience with application assessment ? I am a network 
> guy, dont know much about the apps PT.
> 1. is there any tools that allow me to do the assessment throughly ?

If you're talking web-applications, check out www.owasp.org for a wealth
of information on the subject.  You may also want to take a look at the
webappsec mailing list at www.securityfocus.com.

Typically, the kind of tools you'll need are the personal-proxy
category, allowing you to intercept and modify communications between
the client and server - see Paros Proxy, Odysseus and Burp Proxy, for
example.

There are fully automated tools, but in my personal experience the
manual approach has worked more effectively.

Fat client/binary assessment is a slightly different (and arguably more
complex) beast, and probably off-topic for this list.

> 2. should i have external party conduct this, what are the things i 
> should expect from them (success criteria) ?
> any comments are appriciated.

That depends on how confident you are with your abilities, the drivers
for the assessment and a wealth of factors.  Normally, some coding or
development background is essential to identify and understand potential
vulnerabilities.

Check out www.application-testing.com for our guide on the world of
Application Security Assessments.

--
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G l y n   G e o g h e g a n                   BSc, ARCS
Principal Consultant                       Corsaire Ltd
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