Web Application Penetration Testing

What is a web application penetration test?

A web application penetration test puts a tester in front of your application, working through it the way an attacker would: as an anonymous visitor, as a regular user and as each role with more privileges. We look for authentication bypasses, broken access control, injection flaws, business logic mistakes and data exposure, then chain them together.

That chaining is the difference between a pentest and a scan. A scanner flags a missing header. A tester combines that header, a weak session token and a logic gap to get into another customer's account.

Do you test with logins?

Usually, yes. Most of the risk in a modern application sits behind the sign-in page. We ask for at least two accounts in each role so we can test whether one user can reach another user's data. Broken access control tops the OWASP Top 10 for a reason: it turns up constantly, and it leads straight to data exposure. We also test without credentials to identify issues that anyone on the internet could abuse.

What standards do you follow?

Our testing covers the OWASP Top 10 and goes past it. OWASP gives a useful baseline, but checklists don't catch business logic flaws, like a checkout that accepts a negative quantity or an approval step that a user can skip by changing one request. Finding those takes a person who understands what your application is supposed to do and then tries everything it isn't.

Do you test APIs?

Yes. If your application or your mobile app talks to an API, the API belongs in scope, and for most applications from the last few years, the API is where the interesting findings live. Send us documentation or a collection file if you have one. If you don't, we'll map the API from the application's own traffic.

Should we test production or staging?

Staging works best when it closely mirrors production, because we can push harder without any risk to real customers or real data. If staging drifts from production, test production and we'll agree on limits up front, like steering clear of actions that email real customers or place real orders.

How long does it take, and what does it cost?

The size of the application drives the effort: the number of pages and API endpoints, how many user roles it has and how complex the workflows get. A marketing site with a contact form takes far less time than a customer portal with payments and five roles. Most engagements fit inside one to three weeks, and we quote based on the scope we discuss with you.

What do we get at the end?

Every finding comes with the requests and responses that prove it, steps to reproduce it, the business impact in plain language and a specific fix your developers can act on. A certified tester validates every finding, so your developers spend their time fixing real problems. We walk your team through the report, and the same person who tested the application answers their questions.

Customers, partners and frameworks like SOC 2 and PCI DSS often expect a third-party application pentest. The report gives you the evidence they ask for.

Related services and reading

• Michigan penetration testing: how we test organizations across the state, remotely or on-site.
• What a website penetration test should mean: how to tell a real test from a scanner report with a new cover.
• AI Penetration Testing: if your application includes a chatbot, assistant or AI agent.
• Pentest vs vuln scan: what each one actually tells you, and which one you need.