Internet applications face the constant threat of attacks from numerous sources using an increasing number of methods to exploit vulnerabilities in the underlying infrastructure or application. Application and service providers must be increasingly vigilant to keep up. The following are the top ten methods used (not in order) and some suggestions to help counter them.
1. Injection: When hostile data is sent to the interpreter as part of a command, an injection is said to have occurred. SQL injection, SO and LDAP are common occurrences in this regard. Hostile data can fool the interpreter by executing the commands intended by the attacker and can result in data leakage.
SQL Inject Me is a tool that can help minimize the risk of injection.
2. Cross-site scriptingWhen an application takes hostile data and sends it to a web browser without authorization, Cross Site Scripting (XSS) takes place. The damage caused can result in the user being directed to malicious websites and the user’s sessions being hijacked.
ZAP is a highly recommended tool to minimize the risk of XSS.
3. Broken authentication: Broken authentication is a common security risk that can result in identity theft. If the functions of the web application that deal with user authentication and session management are not implemented correctly, valuable user data, including their passwords and credit card information, can be sent to an attacker.
Hackbar competently deals with the security risk of broken authentication.
Four. Insecure direct object references: May occur if an object is exposed to an unsafe reference. If no security measures are in place, hackers can easily control the referral to access the data.
Burp Suite can be used to test web applications for insecure direct object references.
5. Cross-site request forgery: As the name suggests, in this type of security breach, attackers can spoof requests from a victim who has inadvertently logged in. The web application that receives the requests has no way of authenticating whether the requests are sent by the original user or by the attacker.
Tamper Data is a commonly used tool for modifying “HTTP HTTPS” headers and POST parameters. However, the tool has recently run into some Google Accelerator compatibility issues.
6. Incorrect security settings: Security misconfiguration occurs when the code libraries used by the application are not up-to-date and secure settings are not defined for all frameworks, platforms, and servers.
The Microsoft Reference Security Analyzer can be used to test your security settings. Watabo is also a good tool in this regard.
7. Insecure cryptographic storage: Web applications must store sensitive data such as credit card information, passwords, SSN, and other similar data entries by using proper encryption. If such data is weakly protected, attackers can easily access it.
Developers must ensure that the correct data is encrypted, they must avoid known bad algorithms, and they must ensure that the key storage is adequate.
Additionally, developers must be able to identify sensitive data and take steps to move this data out of memory as soon as it is not needed.
8. Do not restrict access to the URL: Most web applications check for URL security access when accessing protected pages, but don’t do these checks every time. As a result, attackers can easily spoof URLs and access sensitive data and hidden pages.
Veracode’s Static Code Analysis Tool is a good solution for finding URL access vulnerabilities in your application code.
9. Insufficient transport layer protection: Through transport layer protection, web applications can assure users that their interaction with the website takes place in a secure environment and that their data is safe from attackers. When there is not enough TLS, the user may receive a warning about low protection. Without transport layer protection, user confidentiality and sensitive data are at risk. The implementation of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is currently the most common way to provide this protection and it is necessary to verify the implementation of SSL to ensure that it is implemented correctly.
Calomel’s SSL validation is a useful add-on in this regard.
10. Unvalidated redirects and forwards: Web applications sometimes direct users to different pages and links without any validation. These unvalidated redirects can lead the user to access malicious pages and websites.
The Veracode Static Code Analysis Tool or the Codeplex Watcher can be used to find and eradicate this security risk in your coding.
In conclusion, no web application can be truly 100% secure, but with consistent security analysis, applications can be enhanced to protect users from most attackers.