Tag Archives: against
Protecting Against a List of Malicious Attacks
A threat profile is a list of things that a malicious attack can do to a computer. When a penetration testing company is performing security checks against threats to a customers database or website applications, they focus on specific areas that coordinate with the threat profile. There are several diagnostics that an application security testing company can perform to see how easily a companys system can be breached. Once a threat profile has been established, the security company can begin web application security testing.
What Types of Threats Exist?
Different threats have different goals. Depending on who and what is attacking the site, different things may happen. For example, the idea behind the threat may be to steal credit card information on a companys clients or to cause an e-commerce site to malfunction and lose business. To protect an application against threats, a computer security company must first know what the system needs to protect against, before it can create and implement a plan.
What Does Testing Involve?
Checking and testing for possible security weaknesses is done through a battery of testing procedures. The plan for testing must first be custom designed with the particular application in mind. The security company tries to mimic the possible avenues that could be used to cause trouble. The tests are then performed. Depending on how in depth the process is and how many tests are performed, it can take anywhere from 10 days to one month. A quality security company will not rush the process and risk problems down the road for the sake of saving a few minutes here and there. Qualified personnel will take their time to verify that an application is as secure as possible through a variety of exhaustive methods. Tests using scanners are helpful, but people-driven testing tools are often more effective for preventing sabotage, malicious attacks, siphoning and other threats.
Certification
When consumers use a website for e-commerce or to exchange personal information, they want to know that its secure. They do not want their personal contact information, credit card numbers, financial details to be shared with other people. They want reassurances that any website or website application they use is safe from hackers and identity thieves. Without a security certification posted on the website, many potential customers will gladly take their business elsewhere in favor of personal safety. Once a website application has been authentically certified, it should be displayed where it can be seen. The site should be certified by experts who have had proper, up-to-date training in prevention of risks and thwarting attacks.
Protecting Against a List of Malicious Attacks
A threat profile is a list of things that a malicious attack can do to a computer. When a penetration testing company is performing security checks against threats to a customers database or website applications, they focus on specific areas that coordinate with the threat profile. There are several diagnostics that an application security testing company can perform to see how easily a companys system can be breached. Once a threat profile has been established, the security company can begin web application security testing.
What Types of Threats Exist?
Different threats have different goals. Depending on who and what is attacking the site, different things may happen. For example, the idea behind the threat may be to steal credit card information on a companys clients or to cause an e-commerce site to malfunction and lose business. To protect an application against threats, a computer security company must first know what the system needs to protect against, before it can create and implement a plan.
What Does Testing Involve?
Checking and testing for possible security weaknesses is done through a battery of testing procedures. The plan for testing must first be custom designed with the particular application in mind. The security company tries to mimic the possible avenues that could be used to cause trouble. The tests are then performed. Depending on how in depth the process is and how many tests are performed, it can take anywhere from 10 days to one month. A quality security company will not rush the process and risk problems down the road for the sake of saving a few minutes here and there. Qualified personnel will take their time to verify that an application is as secure as possible through a variety of exhaustive methods. Tests using scanners are helpful, but people-driven testing tools are often more effective for preventing sabotage, malicious attacks, siphoning and other threats.
Certification
When consumers use a website for e-commerce or to exchange personal information, they want to know that its secure. They do not want their personal contact information, credit card numbers, financial details to be shared with other people. They want reassurances that any website or website application they use is safe from hackers and identity thieves. Without a security certification posted on the website, many potential customers will gladly take their business elsewhere in favor of personal safety. Once a website application has been authentically certified, it should be displayed where it can be seen. The site should be certified by experts who have had proper, up-to-date training in prevention of risks and thwarting attacks.
Guarding both Web Applications and Databases Security Attacks
With companies better protecting their computer network perimeters against malicious intruders, a growing number of attacks have begun taking place at the website application and database layers instead. A recent survey shows that more than 80 percent of attacks against corporate networks these days involve Web applications. The survey suggests that a vast majority of Web applications deployed in enterprises contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by intruders, allowing them to gain access to underlying systems and data. Despite the prevalence of such vulnerabilities, most companies are not addressing the problem due to a lack of awareness or because their budgets do not permit additional expenditures on Web application security, according to the study.
Fortunately for enterprises, a growing number of relatively inexpensive, automated Web application security tools are becoming available to help them probe their applications for exploitable security flaws. The products are designed to help companies examine application code for common errors that result in security vulnerabilities. Using such tools, companies can quickly identify issues such as SQL Injection errors, Cross-Site Scripting flaws and input validation errors, much faster than they would have been able to manually.
Most of the reputable application security testing tools that are currently available can be used to test both custom-developed Web applications and common off-the-shelf software packages. Companies typically run the tools first against their live production applications to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities that could disrupt their operations. Application security tools typically only help identify vulnerabilities. They do not automatically remedy the flaws. In addition to testing production applications, tools can also be used to test code during the application development and the quality assurance stage. Security analysts in fact, recommend that such tools be used during the development life cycle because finding and fixing flaws can be a whole lot easier and less expensive compared to doing it after an application has been deployed. A growing number of such security testing products also support features that allow companies to conduct penetration testing exercises against their application and database layer. Using such products, companies can probe their networks for flaws in much the same way that a malicious attacker would probe their networks.
Until recently, the use of such tools has been considered a security best practice, but that could start changing soon. Already, the Payment Card Industry Security Council, a body that governs security standards in the payment card space, has a rule mandating the use of application security software by all companies of a certain size that accept debit and credit card transactions. Under the rules, covered entities are required to use such tools to identify and remediate security flaws in any applications that handle payment card data. Similar rules mandating the use of such software could start becoming more commonplace as awareness of the issue grows.