Yes. And so much more.
The OWASP Top 10 is a great starting point — but it’s just that: a starting point.
At Asteros, we absolutely test for the OWASP Top 10. In fact, many of the most serious vulnerabilities we find fall into those categories: injection, broken access controls, security misconfigurations, and so on.
But if you only test for the Top 10, you’re missing a huge part of the picture.
What Is the OWASP Top 10?
The OWASP Top 10 is a list of the most common (and often most impactful) web application security risks. It’s updated every few years by the Open Web Application Security Project and includes categories like:
- Broken Access Control
- Cryptographic Failures
- Injection
- Insecure Design
- Security Misconfiguration
- Vulnerable and Outdated Components
- Identification and Authentication Failures
- Software and Data Integrity Failures
- Security Logging and Monitoring Failures
- Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
Every Asteros web app test includes checks for all of these — but we don’t stop there.
Why the OWASP Top 10 Isn’t Enough
The Top 10 is helpful for education, training, and baseline awareness. But it’s not a testing methodology — it’s a categorized list.
Here’s why relying on it alone falls short:
- It’s broad — each item is a category, not a specific vulnerability
- It doesn’t guarantee full coverage of your app’s unique architecture or features
- It misses nuanced risks like flawed business logic, role confusion, or edge case authorization paths
- It can’t validate how well security controls are implemented, just that they exist (or don’t)
What We Do Instead (And On Top of It)
We use the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) as the foundation of our web application penetration testing.
This gives us a structured, comprehensive, and consistent way to evaluate an application across dozens of areas — not just Top 10 risks.
ASVS helps us test:
- Authentication flows and session management
- Access controls across roles, features, and data
- Secure use of encryption and token handling
- API behaviors, including auth and input validation
- Business logic edge cases that scanners miss
- How securely your application is designed and maintained
The result is a more complete picture of your app’s security — with findings that are reproducible, prioritized, and explained in the context of your environment.
Yes, We’ll Catch Top 10 Issues. But You’ll Get So Much More.
If you’re worried about the OWASP Top 10 — we’ve got you covered.
But if you’re serious about security, you should want more than just a list of common pitfalls.
You deserve:
- A test that adapts to how your app works
- A report that helps your team improve, not just pass an audit
- A security partner that’s looking at the big picture, not just the buzzwords
That’s what we deliver at Asteros. If that aligns to what you’re looking for, lets chat 👇