Finding web vulnerabilities and closing them proactively is a must for any business today. Many organisations lack the tools and expertise to identify the weaknesses in their applications. This article explains the main ways to find them.

What is a website vulnerability?

A vulnerability is a flaw in a system that leaves it open to attack. A website vulnerability is a weakness or misconfiguration in a website or web application that lets an attacker gain some level of control over the site, and possibly the server behind it. New vulnerabilities are found all the time by software vendors, security researchers and attackers.

1. Scan your web application

The most efficient way to find website vulnerabilities is to scan the application with a vulnerability scanner. You can test manually too, but it takes much longer and it is easy to miss things: issues such as SQL injection, command injection and header injection across hundreds of parameters are hard to cover by hand. A scanner tests every input it can find, consistently.

For a useful result, give the scanner a login so it can test the parts of the application behind authentication.

2. Run a penetration test

After scanning, a penetration test looks at how a real attacker might break in. A skilled tester chains weaknesses together and tests the business logic in ways automated tools cannot. The method varies with each organisation's architecture and risk profile; there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

3. Build a threat intelligence framework

Scanning and penetration testing find weaknesses in what you have built. A threat intelligence framework helps you decide what to protect and what to watch for. It helps your organisation:

• Define what it needs to protect.
• Set goals for overall security.
• Identify the main sources of threat.
• Refine its protections.
• Choose threat intelligence feeds to monitor new and emerging attack techniques.

Only test what you are allowed to

Scan and test only websites you own or have written permission to test.

How Vooki Pro helps

• Discovers your site by crawling, browser recordings and background API capture.
• Scans behind the login, then shows evidence for every finding.
• Retest each finding after the fix.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to find website vulnerabilities?

Run an authenticated DAST scan, then review the findings by severity.

Can I scan any website?

Only websites you own or have written permission to test.

Related: Authenticated scanning: why you must scan behind the login · Scoping a security scan correctly