🛡️ Security Testing with OWASP ZAP

Security is most effective when it becomes part of the engineering process, not an afterthought. My approach combines functional testing with vulnerability assessment to help identify security risks before production deployment.

Overview

In addition to functional and automation testing, I perform baseline security assessments using OWASP ZAP to identify common web application vulnerabilities.

My goal is to identify common security weaknesses early in the software delivery lifecycle, enabling engineering teams to remediate issues before production. While this does not replace a dedicated penetration test, it complements functional testing by integrating baseline application security checks into the QA process.

Security Validation Coverage

Typical assessments include:

Passive Scanning
Active Scanning
Authentication Testing
Session Management
Cookie Security
HTTP Header Validation
SSL/TLS Verification
Input Validation
Injection Testing
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Security Misconfiguration
Information Disclosure

Tools

Tool	Purpose
OWASP ZAP	Security Assessment
Browser Proxy	Request Interception
Swagger/OpenAPI	Endpoint Discovery
Postman	API Validation
SQL	Backend Verification

Typical Workflow

Target Application
        │
        ▼
Spider / Crawl
        │
        ▼
Passive Scan
        │
        ▼
Active Scan
        │
        ▼
Vulnerability Analysis
        │
        ▼
Risk Classification
        │
        ▼
Security Report
        │
        ▼
Developer Remediation

Vulnerabilities Assessed

Input Validation

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
SQL Injection
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Authentication & Session Security

Authentication Weaknesses
Session Management
Cookie Security

Configuration & Infrastructure

Missing Security Headers
Insecure HTTP Methods
Mixed Content
Information Disclosure
Directory Browsing

Risk Classification

High
Medium
Low
Informational

Deliverables

Typical deliverables include:

HTML Security Assessment Reports
Vulnerability Summaries
Risk Classification
Evidence Screenshots
Remediation Recommendations
Security Validation Results

Business Impact

Integrating baseline security testing into the QA process helped teams:

Identify common vulnerabilities earlier in the development lifecycle
Improve release confidence through security validation
Reduce the risk of deploying known security issues
Support secure development practices
Provide developers with actionable remediation guidance
Encourage security awareness across engineering teams

Screenshots

📸 Automated Spider Mapping

This assessment demonstrates how OWASP ZAP automatically maps an application's attack surface by discovering pages, technologies, and API endpoints before active security testing begins.

Read the full LinkedIn article

📸 Vulnerability Assessment

This scan highlights how vulnerabilities are prioritized using OWASP ZAP's Alerts dashboard, helping teams focus on the most critical security issues first.

Read the full LinkedIn article

📄 Sample Security Assessment Report

The report below demonstrates the type of HTML vulnerability assessment generated after an automated OWASP ZAP scan. It summarizes discovered issues, their severity, affected endpoints, and recommended remediation steps.

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Sensitive project information has been removed for confidentiality.

Skills Demonstrated

OWASP Top 10
Vulnerability Assessment
Web Security Testing
Risk Analysis
Security Reporting
Secure SDLC

Lessons Learned

Security testing reinforced that software quality extends beyond functionality. By incorporating baseline security validation into regular QA activities, teams can detect common vulnerabilities earlier, reduce remediation costs, and build more secure applications without disrupting development workflows.