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Assessing Code Security with WhiteSource Vulnerability Lab
Writing the best code is of utmost importance. It allows an organization to stand out from among its competitors. An organization also keeps track of code security. If an attacker uncovers vulnerable code, they can exploit the system. Thus, with each passing iteration, one must check for code security and take the necessary actions to strengthen it.
Here, organizations need to be extra careful. If they are using open source code or their code itself is open to others. Most security incidents happen when an attacker gets entry through the back door of a system.
Code Security Identification
As you can see, there are multiple security risks involved with your data and data storage. To shore up prevention, you can use a vulnerability scanner to ease your task. It mainly identifies major security threats and also checks for valid sources.
Before moving on there are multiple types of DB security that should be checked like:
- SQL injection prevention
- User privileges
- Confidential data encryptions
- DB configuration
- Db backups
- Proper use of database protection tool
A database that I like is the free WhiteSource Vulnerability Database. On its website, you can check the ‘TopVulnerabilities’ section, where it lists vulnerabilities and indicates the time of vulnerability detection and if there’s any fix available or not.
The main resources are NVD, security advisories, and open source project issue trackers. Another big advantage is that it has the support of more than 200 programming languages. The database also suggests fixes for the vulnerabilites you’re looking at. It’s one of the most comprehensive vulnerability databases out there which is why I like using it.
Code Security Risks
Writing code is easier than making it more secure and robust. Sometimes, coding involves third-party open source codes, libraries, or snippets. Developers often use such things to avoid having to reinvent the wheel. It’s good to use open source codes. But before using it, make sure you check for security vulnerabilities. If you don’t check it properly, it can manifest into a big risk.
Let’s discuss cyber risks. They involve data breaches, inserting malware, exploiting personal data, data stealing, etc. This type of attack can affect your whole organization, which can lead to a loss in customer base. Some security concerns are as follow:
SQL Injection Attack
An SQL injection is a web application bug that allows an attacker to exploit a database’s information by hitting queries from a user interface. Systems already use queries to perform CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) operations.
The attacker gets all the data not meant to be seen by the end-user by executing a query. An attacker can also change or delete existing data. That can make a system unstable and unreliable. Sometimes, attackers may change the backend and can also perform denial-of-service attacks.
Man-in-the-Middle attack
A man-in-the-middle attack is a term when an attacker places themselves between a user and a server. They pretend to be the server for the user and a user for the server. No one knows that a hacker is intercepting the conversation. This attack’s primary goal is to get users’ personal details, like passwords, account details, and private messages.
Cross-site scripting (XSS) attack
Cross-site scripting is a type of attack in which hackers inject malicious code into web apps, usually on the client side. An attacker’s end goal is to run that script on a selected client’s web browser with his trusted websites. After the execution, those sites become the mediator for a hacker.
Malware Attack
Malware is just a piece of code that executes at the victim’s end and gets all necessary information or may cause severe problems to a system. The primary purpose of injecting malware is to harm a user’s system and get personal details like credentials, payment information, etc.
Spoofing Attacks
In a spoofing attack, a hacker creates a situation in which their program pretends to be a trusted source by falsifying identity. The primary purpose of this attack is to get illegal access to the user’s system. Spoofing is used to spread malware, obtain personal information, bypass the firewall, and access the system. Spoofing can be through communication, phone call, a transaction, etc. Spoofing can be even deeper, like IP spoofing, domain name system (DNS)spoofing, etc.
Before moving forward, we need to make sure that all these vulnerabilities are detected and fixed before the code makes it to production. A tester should take this responsibility and test the code base thoroughly.
Conclusion
For any firm, it’s very important to see code safety and integrity. Nowadays, the use of open source code is necessary when you want to speed up your development process. Open source code can be in the form of a library, snippet, or any other. So it’s very much important to analyze risk before making any code to live.
Code security is a major concern because of private and confidential information. To keep your application safe and up to date, you can go with existing tools to ease your SDLC process.
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