WebDefect
17-MODULE ATTACK SURFACE DEFENSE METHODOLOGY

Complete Cyber Defense Built for Enterprise Scale

From infrastructure security and transport encryption to endpoint discovery and client-side vulnerabilities, WebDefect runs comprehensive evidence-based checks across 17 assessment modules to give you complete visibility.

Phase 01Asset Discovery • Full Perimeter Visibility

External Exposure

Complete digital asset discovery and perimeter mapping

Identifies all publicly accessible infrastructure and digital assets associated with your domain. Provides visibility into your complete external footprint to help you understand potential exposure points and detect unexpected assets.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Digital Asset Discovery
  • Storage Security Assessment
  • Dangling Reference Identification
  • Certificate Transparency Monitoring
  • Abandoned Asset Detection

Assessment Checks

Digital Asset Enumeration
Discovers all public-facing assets and infrastructure components associated with your domain.
Infrastructure Mapping
Identifies authoritative infrastructure, delegation chains, and configuration.
Storage Security Assessment
Detects misconfigured storage and evaluates takeover risks.
Phase 02Framework Detection • Complete Stack Mapping

Site Intelligence

Technology stack identification and endpoint discovery

Identifies the technologies, frameworks, and libraries powering your application. Discovers endpoints and interfaces to provide complete visibility into your application's structure and third-party dependencies.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Web Framework Identification
  • Library Detection
  • Infrastructure Platform Recognition
  • Delivery Network Identification
  • Endpoint Discovery

Assessment Checks

Technology Stack Profiling
Identifies web frameworks, server platforms, and runtime environments.
Library Version Detection
Determines versions of client-side libraries for vulnerability correlation.
Application Surface Mapping
Discovers endpoints and interfaces across the application.
Phase 03DNS & Email Security • Domain Protection Status

Domain Infrastructure

DNS security and email authentication assessment

Evaluates your DNS security configuration and email authentication controls. Validates implementation to protect against domain spoofing and email-based attacks.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • DNS Security Implementation Validation
  • Email Sender Authentication
  • Policy Configuration Review
  • Signature Validation
  • Certificate Authority Authorization

Assessment Checks

Email Authentication Status
Evaluates email authentication configuration to prevent email spoofing.
Domain Policy Enforcement
Identifies weak enforcement policies that may allow unauthorized email sending.
DNS Security Validation
Assesses DNS security implementation and certificate authority authorization.
Phase 04TLS & Certificates • Transport Security Status

Connection Integrity

TLS configuration and certificate security assessment

Evaluates your transport encryption configuration, certificate validity, and cryptographic strength. Identifies protocol weaknesses, insecure configurations, certificate issues, and missing security features to ensure secure encrypted connections.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Protocol Version Assessment
  • Cryptographic Strength Evaluation
  • Certificate Validity & Trust Chain
  • Strict Transport Security
  • Certificate Authority Compliance

Assessment Checks

Protocol Security Assessment
Identifies use of deprecated protocols and weak cryptographic configurations.
Forward Secrecy Evaluation
Validates support for modern ephemeral key exchange mechanisms.
Certificate Health Monitoring
Assesses certificate expiration, trust chains, and validity issues.
Phase 05Security Headers • Defense Layer Coverage

Web Protection

Security header configuration and policy assessment

Evaluates security headers that protect against common web attacks. Reviews security policy implementation and protective header configuration to identify missing or misconfigured security controls.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Content Security Policy Review
  • Frame Protection Configuration
  • Resource Isolation Policies
  • Permission & Feature Policies
  • Cross-Origin Protection Headers

Assessment Checks

Security Policy Review
Evaluates security policy directives and identifies policy weaknesses.
Transport Security Check
Validates strict transport security configuration and preload status.
Frame Protection Assessment
Reviews clickjacking protections through appropriate security controls.
Phase 06Cookies & CORS • Client-Side Security

Browser Controls

Cookie security and cross-origin policy assessment

Evaluates cookie security attributes and cross-origin policies. Identifies session management issues, missing security flags, and cross-origin resource sharing misconfigurations that could lead to security vulnerabilities.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Cookie Security Flag Assessment
  • Same-Site Policy Configuration
  • Cross-Origin Policy Review
  • Cross-Origin Isolation
  • Credential Protection Evaluation

Assessment Checks

Cookie Security Configuration
Evaluates security attributes on session cookies.
Cross-Origin Policy Assessment
Identifies overly permissive configurations that may expose sensitive resources.
Origin Isolation Headers
Reviews cross-origin isolation and resource policy headers.
Phase 07Cache & CDN • Delivery Security Status

Delivery Layer

CDN configuration and caching policy assessment

Evaluates content delivery network configuration and caching policies. Identifies potential sensitive data exposure through cache headers, security header handling, and response caching behavior.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Cache Control Policy Review
  • Security Header Assessment
  • Response Caching Behavior
  • Edge Layer Configuration
  • Intermediary Security Analysis

Assessment Checks

Sensitive Content Caching
Identifies sensitive responses that may be cached inappropriately.
Header Preservation
Evaluates whether security headers are preserved through delivery processing.
Cache Policy Configuration
Reviews cache control directives for proper sensitive data handling.
Phase 08Files & Endpoints • Exposure Detection

Resource Exposure

Sensitive file and endpoint discovery

Identifies exposed development files, configuration files, backup archives, and administrative interfaces. Discovers sensitive endpoints and resources that should not be publicly accessible.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Development File Detection
  • Configuration File Discovery
  • Administrative Interface Identification
  • Documentation Exposure
  • Backup & Archive Detection

Assessment Checks

Source Control Exposure
Detects exposed version control directories and artifacts.
Documentation Discovery
Identifies exposed documentation and specification files.
Configuration File Detection
Finds exposed environment files, backups, and configuration artifacts.
Phase 09Libraries & CVEs • Dependency Security

Code Integrity

JavaScript dependency and vulnerability assessment

Analyzes client-side libraries and dependencies for known security vulnerabilities. Identifies outdated packages, exposed source maps, and embedded secrets in client-side code.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Library Identification
  • Known Vulnerability Detection
  • Dependency Version Assessment
  • Outdated Package Identification
  • Source Map Exposure Analysis

Assessment Checks

Vulnerability Mapping
Identifies known security vulnerabilities in detected libraries.
Dependency Currency Assessment
Detects outdated dependencies with available security updates.
Source Map Exposure
Identifies exposed source maps that may reveal proprietary code.
Phase 10Auth & Forms • Authentication Security

Access & Sessions

Authentication mechanism and form security assessment

Evaluates authentication forms, login mechanisms, and session management controls. Identifies security issues in credential handling, protection gaps, and authentication flow vulnerabilities.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Login Form Security Assessment
  • Password Field Configuration
  • Protection Evaluation
  • Session Management Review
  • Authentication Flow Analysis

Assessment Checks

Form Security Configuration
Evaluates security attributes on authentication forms and sensitive inputs.
Autocomplete Policy Review
Assesses autocomplete configuration on password and sensitive fields.
Protection Status
Identifies missing or weak protections on sensitive operations.
Phase 11Error Handling • Information Security

Application Assessment

Error handling and information disclosure evaluation

Evaluates error messages, server banners, and application responses for information disclosure. Identifies verbose error handling, version exposure, and diagnostic information that could aid attackers.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Server Banner Assessment
  • Error Message Analysis
  • Debug Endpoint Detection
  • Administrative Interface Discovery
  • Version Information Exposure

Assessment Checks

Error Message Disclosure
Identifies verbose error messages that reveal stack traces or system paths.
Server Version Exposure
Detects exposed server versions and framework identifiers in headers.
Debug Interface Detection
Identifies accessible debug or diagnostic endpoints.
Phase 12SEO & Metadata • Metadata Security

SEO, GEO & AOE

SEO configuration and metadata assessment

Evaluates search engine optimization configurations, metadata, and structured data. Identifies security implications in search directives, sitemap exposure, and schema markup that may reveal sensitive information.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Meta Tags & Open Graph Configuration
  • Search Directives Analysis
  • Structured Data Assessment
  • Canonicalization & Indexing
  • Social Media Card Configuration

Assessment Checks

Search Directives Path Disclosure
Identifies directives that may reveal sensitive URLs or administrative paths.
Sitemap Information Review
Evaluates sitemaps for overly detailed URL patterns.
Structured Data Privacy
Reviews structured data for sensitive information disclosure.
Phase 13Resource Delivery • Performance Configuration

Performance Health

Resource optimization and delivery configuration

Assesses resource compression, delivery protocols, and performance configuration. Identifies missing optimization that may impact both performance and security, such as missing modern protocol support or improper compression.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Compression Configuration
  • Resource Size Assessment
  • Protocol Version Support
  • Resource Loading Strategy
  • Performance Measurement

Assessment Checks

Compression Status
Validates proper content encoding with modern compression.
Protocol Support Assessment
Checks for modern protocol support and proper configuration.
Resource Optimization
Identifies oversized resources that may impact load time and user experience.
Phase 14Privacy Controls • Privacy Compliance

Privacy Posture

Privacy controls and consent mechanism evaluation

Evaluates privacy controls, consent mechanisms, and tracking technology deployment. Assesses cookie banners, privacy policy accessibility, third-party tracker presence, and data protection compliance signals.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Third-Party Tracker Identification
  • Cookie Consent Implementation
  • Privacy Policy Accessibility
  • Data Collection Assessment
  • Compliance Signal Detection

Assessment Checks

Tracking Script Analysis
Identifies analytics, advertising, and social media tracking scripts.
Consent Management
Validates presence of cookie consent banners and Do-Not-Track header respect.
Privacy Policy Accessibility
Checks for easily accessible privacy policy and terms of service links.
Phase 15Drift Monitoring • Change Tracking

Security Changes

Configuration drift and temporal change detection

Compares your current security posture against previous assessments to identify changes over time. Detects new findings, resolved issues, configuration drift, and score changes to track security improvements or regressions.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Security Score Trend Analysis
  • New Finding Detection
  • Resolved Issue Tracking
  • Configuration Change Detection
  • Historical Comparison

Assessment Checks

Score Change Detection
Identifies when security scores improve or degrade between assessments.
New Exposure Identification
Flags newly discovered issues, endpoints, or security concerns.
Remediation Tracking
Confirms whether previously reported findings have been addressed.
Phase 16Verification • Validation Quality

Finding Confidence

Secondary validation and false positive elimination

Performs secondary verification on findings to eliminate false positives and confirm reproducibility. Each verified finding includes concrete evidence from your infrastructure to support the security assessment.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Active Secondary Verification
  • Evidence Collection
  • Multiple Confirmation Methods
  • False Positive Filtering
  • Confidence Assessment

Assessment Checks

Two-Stage Validation
Re-tests critical and high severity findings to confirm validity.
Evidence Capture
Collects concrete evidence including headers, certificates, and responses.
Context Verification
Ensures findings aren't framework artifacts or expected behavior.
Phase 17Final Scoring • Executive Reporting

Risk Intelligence

Security scoring and compliance mapping

Synthesizes all findings into an executive-ready security rating (0-100) with letter grade. Maps findings to compliance frameworks and provides actionable remediation guidance to help prioritize security improvements.

Core Inspection Coverage

  • Severity-Based Scoring
  • Compliance Framework Mapping
  • Regulatory Control Assessment
  • Transparent Score Calculation (0-100)
  • Actionable Remediation Guidance

Assessment Checks

Security Score Calculation
Computes overall security rating based on severity-weighted findings.
Compliance Framework Mapping
Links findings to specific regulatory requirements and audit controls.
Remediation Guidance
Provides configuration examples and fix recommendations for identified issues.

Experience Evidence-Based Security Intelligence

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