Thick Client Penetration Testing Modern Approaches and Techniques

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Thick Client Penetration Testing Modern
Approaches and Techniques
What Is Thick Client Penetration Testing ? A
client program that can offer rich functionality
without relying on the server in a network
is referred to as a thick client, also known as
a fat client. The majority of thick client
operations can be carried out without an active
server connection. While they do occasionally
need to connect to a network on the central
server, they
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• can operate independently and may contain
  locally stored resources.
• On the other hand, a thin client is a client
  program or computer that requires a connection
  to the server in order to work. Thin clients rely
  heavily on server access each time they need to
  analyze or validate input data because they
  perform as little processing on their own as is
  feasible.
• Why do thick client applications need testing?
• For internal operations, thick client
  applications are crucial. They are frequently
  used to interact with private data, such as
  financial and health records and they provide a
  significant danger to a business, particularly
  if they are legacy applications.
• Thick clients function differently, and each has
  advantages and disadvantages of their own. The
  security that thin clients offer over thick
  clients is one of their main advantages. The
  following are some of the main security issues
  with thick clients
• Sensitive data disclosure.

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• Denial of Service (DoS).
• Improper access control.
• Improper session management.
• Reverse engineering.
• Injection attacks.
• Variable and response manipulation.
• Improper error handling.
• Insecure storage.
• How can thick client apps be tested?
• Thick client applications require a certain
  strategy when it comes to a penetration test
  because they are typically more involved and
  customized than online or mobile applications.
• When dealing with a thick client application, the
  initial step is to obtain data, such as
• Identifying the technologies being utilized on
  both the server and client sides.
• Determining the behaviour and operation of the
  program.
• Locating the entire various user input entry
• locations.
• Recognizing the applications primary security
  techniques.

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• Recognizing widespread vulnerabilities in things
  like languages and frameworks.
• Phases of Thick Client Application Vulnerability
  Assessment Penetration Testing
• Mapping and Scoping
• Make a business process model and agree to it. By
  identifying and regulating access to documents
  and information, scoping ensures their security.
  It makes it possible to map out the problems for
  subsequent steps. A brief meeting with the
  client will be required as part of this process
  to review and confirm the rules of engagement
  for Thick Client Penetration Testing as well
  as to establish the project scope and testing
  schedule.
• Enumeration and Information Gathering
• The tester receives information from this stage
  that can be used to find and take advantage of
  vulnerabilities in the online applications. This
  phases objective is to detect any sensitive
  data, such as application technology, usernames,
  version information, hardcoded data, etc., that
  may be useful during the testing phases that
  follow.

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• Scanning
• To identify recurring problems in the thick
  client software, we employ a proprietary method.
  For our experts to investigate the tool also
  lists the thick clients network communication,
  inter process communication, operating system
  interactions, and other activities.
• Vulnerability identification and assessment
• The list of all targets and apps that fall under
  the scope of the vulnerability analysis phase
  will be compiled at both the network layer and
  the application layer. Our experts examine the
  setup of your thick client, detecting both
  issues with the default configuration and
  potential methods the application could be set
  up to avoid security measures.
• Exploitation
• All potential vulnerabilities found in the
  earlier stages of the assessment will be
  subjected to this phases effort to exploit them
  like an attacker would. Business logic problems,
  bypasses for

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• authentication and authorization, direct object
  references, parameter manipulation, and session
  management are all included in this. The majority
  of thick clients make use of some server-side
  capability, and all thick clients or central data
  storage may be impacted by a server-side
  vulnerability that is successfully exploited.
• Need Penetration Testing for Thick Client
  Applications?
• Regardless of whether your thick client
  application is hosted internally or in a
  virtualized environment, Elanus Technologies
  evaluates it.
• When conducting security assessments for thick
• client applications, we look at best practices
  for authorization and authentication as well as
  data storage and communication pathways. To
  assess your application, we use manual and
  automated pen-testing procedures using paid,
  free, and open-source cybersecurity.
• We at Elanus Technologies specialize in thick
  client application security, including
• Static Analysis To find potential flaws and
• vulnerabilities in the applications source code

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• without actually running it, our professionals
  use cutting-edge methods.
• Dynamic analysis To find any flaws or
  weaknesses in the functionality of the
  application, our specialists run the application
  and examine its behavior while it operates.
• Penetration testing During this process, we
  mimic a real-world assault on the application
• in order to find and exploit vulnerabilities and
  provide a comprehensive evaluation of its
  security posture.
• Review of Configuration Our team of specialists
  examines the configuration of the application
  and suggests modifications to
• increase the applications general security.
• Network Traffic Analysis To discover and reduce
  potential security concerns, our
• professionals track and examine network traffic.
  Security Code Review Our team of professionals
  examines the applications source code for
  security flaws, finding any potential problems
  and offering solutions.
• Thick client application security describes the
  steps required to safeguard thick client
  applications, which are computer or device

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software applications that run on end users'
computers or other devices and demand a lot of
resources and processing power. These programs
frequently work with sensitive data and are open
to many forms of assault, such as malware,
phishing, and hacking. We have expertise of
conducting Thick Client Application Security
Testing on client-server applications adopting
proven methods and technology. Get in touch with
us for more insights. https//blogs.elanustechnolo
gies.com/thick- client-vapt-2/
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