Application Security for Saudi Organisations
Secure code review, application-layer penetration testing, and OWASP-aligned remediation for the web applications and APIs a network scan does not reach.
Most application flaws are logic, not CVEs
A network vulnerability scan checks for known, catalogued weaknesses. It does not exercise your application's authentication flow, test whether one customer can read another customer's data, or fuzz an API endpoint for injection. Those are business-logic and application-layer flaws, and they are what an application security engagement is built to find.
NCA ECC-2:2024's Cybersecurity Defence domain names application security as part of the broader vulnerability management and secure-development control set. We test web applications and APIs against the OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Security Top 10, review code where source access is available, and prioritise findings by what an attacker could actually reach and do, not by scanner severity alone.
What the service covers
Application Penetration Testing
Manual, expert-led testing of web applications and APIs against the OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Security Top 10, exploiting chained flaws a scanner cannot see.
Secure Code Review
Manual and assisted review of source code for injection, broken access control, and insecure design, where source access is available.
API Security Testing
Authentication, authorisation, and input-handling testing for REST and GraphQL APIs, the interfaces most modern breaches actually go through.
Remediation Support
Findings ranked by exploitability and business impact, with developer-facing guidance rather than a raw scanner report handed to a team with no context.
How this differs from a network vulnerability scan
Logic vs. Signatures
A scanner matches known signatures. Application testing finds business-logic flaws unique to how your application actually works, such as one user accessing another's records through a predictable ID.
Authenticated Depth
Testing runs authenticated, exercising the application as a logged-in user would, not just what is visible from the outside.
Code-Level Findings
Where source is available, code review finds the root cause in the codebase itself, not just the symptom an external test observed.
How an engagement runs
Scoping & Access
1 weekAgree which applications and APIs are in scope, whether testing is authenticated, and whether source code access is available for review.
Testing
1-3 weeksManual testing against the OWASP Top 10 and API Security Top 10, plus business-logic testing specific to how the application actually works.
Findings & Prioritisation
1 weekFindings ranked by exploitability and business impact, with reproduction steps and developer-facing remediation guidance.
Retest
1 weekFixed findings are retested to confirm the vulnerability is actually closed before the report is marked final.
What is included
Find out what a scanner is missing
The Vulnerability Management Maturity Assessment scores your scanning coverage, prioritisation process, and remediation SLAs in about 15 minutes.
Related services
Application Security FAQ
Find answers to common questions about our services