Many organizations have a formal set of information security policies covering everything from acceptable internet usage to security in software development to web application security. In fact, it’s hard to come across a business today that doesn’t have at least a policy or two in…
Not All Web Vulnerability Scans Are Created Equal
Recently a client of mine sent over the results of a web vulnerability scan that one of their customers had run against their production web environment. My client was curious why the results of this third-party scan were different from my findings just a few…
Common Website Security Flaws and What They Mean
Having a successful online presence is hard enough. Throwing some website security-related terms into the mix makes it all the more difficult, especially if you’re not a technical person or computer security guru. Although some folks in IT intentionally make web vulnerabilities difficult to understand…
VIDEO: How Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Works
XSS vulnerabilities (Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities) are often overshadowed by their big cousin, the infamous SQL Injection. This does not make them any less effective or deadly. XSS and SQL Injection attacks are similar in the way they inject malicious code. The difference is that an…
Improving Web Security by Working With What You’ve Got
As I wrote about in a previous post, we’re in the era of cutting back – if not completely eliminating – all non-essential expenditures. The thing is what may seem to be non-essential to management may actually be essential to the business. There could just be…
Explaining the “why” of Web application security
Looking at the bigger picture of application security it seems that no one else really hears us. Sure, product managers, marketing, legal, HR and even certain people in management say they understand what’s at stake. But are they really on board? Business leaders have learned…
"Time to market" no longer the security excuse
If you’ve heard it once you’ve probably heard it a thousand times: time to market is critical. Indeed, when it comes to software development, many business executives, marketers, product managers and sales weasels live and breathe by this mantra. Just get it out the door…
Preventing XSS Attacks
Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks are amongst the most common types of attacks against web applications. XSS vulnerabilities all fall under the same category, however, a more detailed look at the techniques employed during XSS attacks reveals a multitude of tactics that exploit a variety…
Getting employees on your side to improve Web security
We often hear about “disgruntled workers” wreaking havoc on computer systems and sensitive information. Interestingly we never hear about what I call “gruntled workers” and how they can — and do — contribute to enterprise security. Getting the attention of your employees and having them…