This post is part 2 of a two-part series that addresses the rapid changes in security paradigms. The change to security not only affects operation, it increases the level of complexity in security designs. The following post discusses the history of security paradigms and the…
Web-based attacks still reign supreme according to the EU Cybersecurity Agency
Web-based attacks and malware do not just hold the cybercrime crown, but they’re on the rise — that’s according to the latest Threat Landscape Report by the EU Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA). In its sixth annual report, ENISA also reported that in…
The Evolving Security Paradigm, Part 1 – History of Firewalls
This post is part 1 of a two-part series that addresses the rapid changes in security paradigms. Driven by the need to satisfy new requirements and keep pace with the digital world greatly impacts the level of security. The following post introduces the history of…
PHP Security Part 5: Top Tips
This final part in the series on PHP security concludes with tips for building a web application/system with security in mind. There are certain things which if done during the development cycle of a web application, will dramatically help reduce the risk of being exposed…
Safely handling redirects with die() and exit() in PHP
It is frequently the case within web applications that redirects are used to direct the user to a different portion of the application. A typical example would be that of an application redirecting a user to the login page when accessing a page intended for…
PHP Security Part 4: Input Validation and PHP Configuration
Validation Validation is the process in which data is checked against specific criteria/specification. It is being used to check if the information given by a user is in the expected/correct format before it is processed. Validation is very important as if used correctly, it allows…
Changes to Network Architectures & The Security Tools required, Part 2
Part one in this two part series looked at the evolution of a network architecture and how it affects security. Here we will take a deeper look at the security tools needed to deal with these changes. The Firewall is not enough Firewalls in three-tier…
Domain Fronting: Poking a hole in the Whitelist for Bypassing Firewalls
Domain Fronting is a widely popular technique that is used for evading Firewalls, DPI’s and censors. Domain Fronting takes advantage of legitimate high reputation cloud providers, more specifically, Content Delivery Networks (CDN), for evasion. This technique has been commonly used in the wild to circumvent…
PHP Security Part 3: XSS and Password Storage
When developing a web application, it is extremely important to have security in mind and be aware of the different risks. If one does not know the risks and the mechanics behind each vulnerability, there is no way to protect against it. In Parts 1…