KMSEC Application Assessments go beyond surface-level scans to find the logic flaws and integration risks that others miss. We partner with you to bridge the gap between rapid development and rigorous protection, giving you the confidence to release and the resilience to grow.
KMSEC Assessment Methodology
1. Requirements Gathering
Client guidance makes sure we deliver to your needs
Our Requirements Gathering Phase focuses on aligning our testing strategy with your specific business goals and technical architecture.
2. Architecture Review
We take a look at the plumbing too
Our Architecture Review provides a high-level inspection of your application’s design to identify structural weaknesses before they are baked into the code.
3. Source Code Analysis
Over a decade of code review experience on board
Our Secure Source Code Analysis involves a rigorous “inside-out” examination of your application’s codebase to identify vulnerabilities that are often invisible to external scans.
4. Dynamic Testing
Find out how your app really works underthood
Our Dynamic Testing (DAST) evaluates your application in its running state to identify vulnerabilities that only emerge during active operation. We leverage fuzz testing, stress testing via various frameworks.
Environments we specialize in
Web Application Security
Assessing your web environment is a critical step in meeting modern compliance goals and ensuring quality control across your digital footprint. By identifying vulnerabilities early, you create a demonstrably safer environment for your users, fostering the trust necessary for long-term growth.
Mobile Application Security
KMSEC has seasoned expertise in the mobile space capable of not only novel application assessments, but also thought leadership on many mobile assessment topics including: Kernel, Operating System, C/C++ runtimes and Java/Kotlin Application levels.
Mobile applications allow businesses to deliver immersive and fluent interfaces right into a users, but if not engineered securely may also deliver keys to your organization or capability to harm users.
KMSEC can help you secure your mobile application and backends against contemporary threat, meet compliance goals and provide users with rich secure and privacy focused interaction.
APIs / Microservices
Cloud requires we scale securely, because mistakes can scale too.
Emerging vulnerabilities like Web Applcation Race Conditions and Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA); mean that the security land scape and the capabilities of attackers are constantly changing.
Dedicated security experts keep an eye on these weather patterns and keep you out of the storm.
FAQ
Application Assessments are comprehensive security evaluations designed to identify vulnerabilities within an application’s architecture, integration layers, and functional components. By undergoing a formal assessment, organizations gain a clear understanding of their security posture and can proactively mitigate risks before they are exploited.
We hold applications to standards like the OWASP Application Verification Security Standard (AVAS), NIST, FIPS and PCI DSS as well as many other contemporary application and environment specific benchmarks. By providing a multifaceted approach which potentially involves (i) Secure Source Code Review (ii) Reverse Engineering (where necessary) (iii) Dynamic testing (UI + Fuzz Testing) amongst other activities KMSEC Application Assessments can adapt to your specific organisation and application environment development style (by leveraging multiple styles of testing).
Although some activities may overlap between PenTests and application assessments the two activities are driven by different outcome goals.
At the end of a PenTest you want to know what an attacker can do to gain access, and the end of an application assessment; you want to know which pain points need to be nursed to guide your application closer to compliance, resilience and security ideals.
Feature |
Vulnerability Scan |
Penetration Test |
Application Assessment |
Method |
100% Automated |
80% Manual / 20% Tool |
Deep Manual Review |
Identifies |
Known Bugs/Patches |
Exploit Paths |
Logic Flaws & Architecture |
Best Used |
Weekly/Monthly |
Annually |
Pre-Release / Compliance |
Insight |
Surface Level |
Attacker’s Perspective |
360° Total View |
An assessment is vital whenever you need to validate your application’s resilience against evolving threats.
1. Strategic Testing Cadence
To maintain a consistent security posture, most organizations adopt a recurring schedule:
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Every 3 Months (Quarterly): Ideal for high-risk applications undergoing rapid, continuous deployment or those handling highly sensitive financial data.
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Every 6 Months (Bi-Annually): Recommended for stable applications that receive regular feature updates or those subject to semi-annual compliance reviews.
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Every 12 Months (Annually): The minimum standard for legacy applications or internal tools to ensure they remain resilient against new, modern exploit techniques.
2. Development Lifecycle Milestones (SDLC)
Integrating security at critical checkpoints prevents vulnerabilities from reaching production:
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Build & Migration Phase: We perform assessments at key handover points, such as moving code from Development to UAT or from UAT to Production, ensuring that only “clean” builds are promoted.
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Pre-Release Phase: For organizations utilizing rapid release cycles (Agile/DevOps), we provide expedited assessments to ensure speed does not compromise security before the application reaches the end-user.
3. Compliance & Regulatory Readiness
Assessments are a prerequisite for many industry standards. Undergoing an assessment helps prepare your organization for rigorous audits, such as PCI DSS, SOC2, and various global privacy regulations, by identifying and remediating gaps in advance.
Framework |
3-Month Cycle (Quarterly) |
6-Month Cycle (Bi-Annual) |
12-Month Cycle (Annual) |
“Significant Change” Trigger |
PCI DSS 4.0 |
Vulnerability Scans (External/ASV) |
Multi-tenant service provider segmentation checks |
Full Penetration Test (Internal & External) |
Mandatory |
SOC 2 |
Recommended for high-velocity DevOps |
Recommended for Type II observation periods |
Standard Expectation for audit evidence |
Recommended |
HIPAA |
Recommended for high-risk ePHI systems |
Vulnerability Scans (New 2025 Requirement) |
Full Penetration Test (Mandated in 2025 updates) |
Mandatory |
ISO 27001 |
Best practice for critical asset monitoring |
Recommended for stable ISMS reviews |
Minimum internal audit/testing requirement |
Mandatory |
NIST CSF |
Recommended for continuous monitoring |
Recommended for risk re-assessment |
Baseline for comprehensive security review |
Recommended |