Would you want to rely a home inspector’s analysis of just the outside of a new home you’re considering for purchase? What about a lab tech only running a partial CT scan or the radiologist analyzing only part of your MRI when your health is…
Cross Site Scripting Attacks
Hackers are constantly experimenting with a wide repertoire of hacking techniques to compromise websites and web applications and make off with a treasure trove of sensitive data including credit card numbers, social security numbers and even medical records. Cross Site Scripting (also known as XSS…
You can’t change what you tolerate
Attending a recent meeting I heard one of the speakers say “You can’t change what you tolerate.” Apparently it’s a quote from Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer) but it really struck a chord in me regarding web application security and overall information risk management. How…
How to Avoid the Google Blacklist
In the ‘old days’ – around 4 to 6 years ago, when the Google Blacklist was less of a news item – hackers were primarily interested in stealing customer data from websites. They would cause absolute havoc after breaking in, stealing anything from customer credit card…
Testing for weak passwords: a common oversight without a great solution
Typically when we think of Web security testing vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting and so on come to mind. Rightly so, the flaws resulting from poor input validation alone are still a large part of the problem. But there’s another Web security vulnerability…
General Facts and Figures on Web Hacking
Facts about Web Hacking Verizon Business conducted a 2009 study of 90 Web data breaches. The results of this study were presented in The Data Breach Investigative Report (DBIR) and included the following facts and figures: 285 million data records were exposed in the 90…
I wouldn’t want to be a developer these days
Are you a software developer? If so, I don’t envy you. Of all the possible positions working in and around IT, you’ve arguably got the toughest one. I’ve witnessed it over the years while performing my own security assessments as well as hearing about it…
Cross-site Scripting
One of the most common forms of Web application vulnerability is Cross-site Scripting. This security vulnerability allows attackers to implant malicious scripts into websites. The scripts will execute in the browsers of visitors to the site, within the hosting website security zone. This provides the…
The Threat of Directory Traversal Attacks
Understanding Directory Traversal One of the critical functions of a secure Web server is controlling access to restricted directories. HTTP exploit attacks circumvent Web server security and use malicious software to access the content of restricted directories. Directory Traversal is one such HTTP vulnerability. The…