Application Protocol Fuzzing

Probing cyber infrastructure weaknesses and vulnerabilities with application protocol fuzzing

Pinpointing weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your device or network requires a comprehensive approach to evaluating resiliency in every component. This should always include application protocol fuzzing to identify the stress fractures hidden deep within. Once the realm of security auditors, application protocol fuzzing now provides enormous benefits to anyone conducting performance and security assessment of IT devices and systems.

 

What is application protocol fuzzing?

Application protocol fuzzing is the process of sending data containing injected errors to network devices. The reason someone would want to send error-filled data to themselves is that invalid data is better at exposing the rarely stressed parts of an application and putting it through its paces. Application fuzzing has long been part of the security auditors' toolkit, but as a network administrator you are beginning to use protocol fuzzing as part of your normal QA and product assessment process.

Using application protocol fuzzing to assess performance and security

The goal of application protocol fuzzing is to provide malicious data, or to provide so much data that something will break. Inserting bad data means strings usually get filled with lots of quotes, null characters or other special character sequences in order to try to make the application fail. Integer data types usually get hit with a list of commonly special values like powers of two. The ability to use protocol fuzzing during the assessment of IT elements or systems can actually unveil never-before-seen stress fractures in that infrastructure.

Application protocol fuzzing with the BreakingPoint Storm CTM™

The BreakingPoint Storm CTM provides users with hundreds of performance and security validation features, including fuzzing capabilities. In the BreakingPoint Storm CTM, application fuzzing is supported by the Security component in the form of special security strikes. Each “fuzzer strike” targets a specific data value or packet type and attempts a multitude of different values as if an attacker were probing your infrastructure. 

Schedule a demonstration

Learn more about the BreakingPoint Storm CTM today and schedule a personalized demo.

Create PDF Printer Friendly Bookmark and Share