Automated Testing vs Manual Testing: Which Approach is Best for Cybersecurity in 2024?

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cybersecurity is more crucial than ever. As cyber threats grow in complexity, ensuring that your systems are secure from potential attacks has become a top priority. Among the tools in a security professional’s arsenal are two primary methods of security testing: automated testing and manual testing. While manual testing remains the most commonly used method, automated testing is increasingly becoming a viable option. If you’re unsure which approach to take, this article will provide insights into the pros and cons of both methods. Rather than advocating for one over the other, we’ll explore how each method works and how they can complement each other to create a robust security posture.

What is Security Testing?

Security testing is a critical component of quality assurance within the software development lifecycle. The goal of security testing is to ensure that the software product is not vulnerable to security threats such as hacking, viruses, and other cyberattacks that could compromise the integrity of the application, its data, and its users. With applications often storing sensitive user data, such as personal, financial, and health information, they become attractive targets for cybercriminals. A security breach can result in significant financial losses, damage to a company’s reputation, and a loss of user trust.

To mitigate these risks, security testing is conducted to identify and address potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Security testing is a broad term that encompasses several specific forms of testing, such as penetration testing, which is one of the most popular forms of security testing. Penetration testing simulates an attack carried out by a hacker to find and report software vulnerabilities.

Security testing is conducted to ensure that a software application is secure from attacks. This is critical as it helps prevent potentially harmful breaches. The testing process involves examining the application for weaknesses and other vulnerabilities. It is a challenging task as it requires a deep understanding of potential threats and how to avoid them.

Two Types of Security Testing

Security testing can be categorized into two main approaches: manual testing and automated testing. Both play a crucial role in a comprehensive security strategy.

Manual Security Testing

Manual security testing involves the evaluation of a system’s security by a human tester. This method applies the reasoning and assessment skills of the tester to evaluate the security of a product, service, or system. Manual security testing is often referred to as manual penetration testing, manual code review, or black-box testing.

In this process, the tester actively seeks out potential security vulnerabilities in an application by conducting a series of planned tests and scenarios. Manual security testing is vital because it allows testers to perform an in-depth evaluation of an application and identify security gaps that might not be detected by automated tools. This helps ensure that the application is as secure as possible before it is launched into a production environment and exposed to real users.

In manual testing, the role of a tester with knowledge and experience in recognizing security vulnerabilities within a system is crucial. The tester will perform a series of steps to evaluate these vulnerabilities and determine whether a hacker can exploit them in real-time. The testing also determines whether the vulnerabilities are indeed present and reports them to the appropriate people within the organization.

Automated Security Testing

Automated security testing is the process of testing an application to identify potential security vulnerabilities or misconfigurations. In this process, automated scanning tools are used to identify potential security issues and vulnerabilities across various applications.

Companies can conduct automated security testing independently or as part of a comprehensive security testing program. It is highly beneficial to include automated security testing as part of an overall security testing program, as it complements other manual testing efforts.

Differences Between Manual Testing and Automated Testing

Both manual and automated security testing methods have their own benefits and are widely used across industries. The table below summarizes the key differences between these two approaches:

Why Manual Testing is Important?

The importance of manual security testing is often overlooked. Many people assume that their site is secure because they use security scanning tools that always produce good results. However, it’s important to realize that automated testing tools are not always perfect, and these tools can only check for vulnerabilities at certain levels.

Another issue with automated security scanners is that they don’t test the same way a software tester would. Automated security scanners are good for initial testing but should not be relied upon as the sole security testing tool.

Manual security testing is one of the foundational techniques used in web application testing. There are many reasons why this technique is so popular. First, it is easy to perform and relatively inexpensive. Manual security testing is also highly effective, which is why many companies use this technique to ensure that their websites and applications are protected against various types of threats.

Some common benefits of conducting manual security testing include:

Flexibility and Adaptability

• Software testers can quickly improvise and adjust their testing approach.
• They can explore unexpected areas and find bugs that might be missed by rigid automated scripts.
• Highly useful for testing user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX) that require subjective assessment.

Human Creativity and Intuition

• Software testers can think critically and use their intuition to identify unexpected testing scenarios.
• They can find bugs that are not listed in formal testing plans.

Efficiency for Certain Tasks

• For certain tasks, such as exploratory testing or usability testing, manual testing can be more efficient than creating and maintaining complex automated scripts.

Contextual Understanding

• Software testers can understand the context of software usage and identify issues that might not be detected by automated tools. For example, they can assess whether the overall business flow of the application is logical and intuitive for users.

Lower Initial Costs

• Starting with manual testing typically requires lower initial costs than automated testing. There is no need for a significant investment in tools and testing script development.

Types of Manual Testing

Manual security testing can be divided into two distinct categories:

Focused Manual Security Testing

This method focuses on testing specific vulnerabilities and risks. Unlike general manual security testing, the tester in this scenario has a clear idea of which vulnerabilities to look for and how to exploit them (if possible). This targeted approach is ideal for situations where known issues or specific areas of concern are present.

Comprehensive Manual Security Testing

This method uses a thorough approach, meticulously examining software, networks, mobile applications, and other systems for various vulnerabilities, exploits, and weaknesses. This method is a structured and in-depth analysis aimed at identifying and ensuring the presence of security gaps in a product.

Simply put, focused manual security testing acts like a laser targeting specific vulnerabilities, while comprehensive manual security testing is a full security checkup designed to uncover potential system weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

How to Conduct Manual Security Testing?

In general, manual security testing is conducted in four main steps:

1. Information Gathering (Reconnaissance): The goal of this step is to gather as much information as possible about the system to be tested. Methods that can be used include:

   • Investigating website and software documentation.
   • Analyzing source code (if available).

2. Vulnerability Discovery (Discovery): This stage focuses on identifying weaknesses within the system. Vulnerability discovery can be done actively or passively:

   • Active: Scanning networks and various services running on the system.
   • Passive: Analyzing server security logs and error messages to look for traces of potential vulnerabilities.

3. Exploitation of Vulnerabilities (Exploitation): After finding vulnerabilities, the next step is to try to exploit them. The tester will use various techniques to carry out exploitation, such as:

   • Brute-force attack: Trying various combinations of usernames and passwords at random to gain illegal access.
   • SQL injection: Inserting malicious code into a form input to take control of the database.
   • Cross-site scripting (XSS): Inserting malicious scripts into a website to attack other visitors.

4. Reporting (Reporting): The final step is to create a report that documents the entire testing process. This report should include:

   • A description of the vulnerabilities found.
   • The severity level of the vulnerabilities.
   • Potential ways to exploit the vulnerabilities.
   • Recommendations for remediation.

By following these steps thoroughly, manual security testing can help your company identify and address weaknesses in your systems before they are exploited by hackers.

Conclusion

Both manual testing and automated testing have crucial roles to play in cybersecurity. Manual testing provides flexibility, creativity, and deep human assessment, while automated testing offers speed, consistency, and cost-efficiency. By combining both methods, organizations can achieve a more comprehensive and resilient security posture, ensuring that their applications are well-protected against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.

FAQs

Q1: Can automated testing replace manual testing entirely?
A1: No, while automated testing is efficient for repetitive and structured tasks, it cannot fully replace the nuanced and exploratory nature of manual testing, which is essential for finding context-specific vulnerabilities.

Q2: What is the main advantage of manual security testing?
A2: The main advantage of manual security testing is its flexibility and the ability of testers to use their intuition and experience to uncover vulnerabilities that automated tools might miss.

Q3: How often should security testing be conducted?
A3: Security testing should be conducted regularly, especially after any major updates or changes to the application. Continuous monitoring and periodic comprehensive testing are recommended.

Q4: Is automated security testing cost-effective?
A4: Yes, automated security testing can be more cost-effective in the long run, especially for large applications that require frequent testing. However, the initial setup can be expensive.

Q5: Can manual and automated security testing be used together?
A5: Absolutely. Using both methods together can provide a more thorough and balanced approach to security, covering both broad, automated scans and detailed, manual evaluations.

References

1. OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) - https://owasp.org/
2. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) - https://www.nist.gov/
3. Burp Suite - https://portswigger.net/burp
4. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) Study Guide
5. "The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook" by Dafydd Stuttard and Marcus Pinto

This detailed guide provides a comprehensive understanding of both manual and automated security testing methods, helping you make informed decisions on which approach best suits your cybersecurity needs.