Software developers are faced with growing security concerns when it comes to the source codes powering their applications for users around the globe.
It has become SOP for organizations to conduct penetration testing and vulnerability scans on a regular basis. Such practice is even endorsed by most IT specialists since an attack could lead to disastrous outcomes. Penetration testing assesses an IT infrastructure’s security by safely exploiting vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities may exist in incorrect configurations, hazardous end-user behavior, operating systems and application flaws.
If you are a security professional, you are most definitely familiar with what vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are. These two are types of vulnerability testing in order to complete a vulnerability analysis. Both are valuable tools for information security and are integral components of the process of managing threat and vulnerability of network systems.
The success of an enterprise wide vulnerability assessment program depends on many factors such as planning, budgeting, resources, technical solution and others, but the most important is the ability to analyse vulnerability scanning reports. Properly identified and categorised vulnerabilities will help organisations to get the most benefit from the program and achieve more Return on Investment. This article will cover some of the points to consider when analysing network and web application reports.
Web applications being used at enterprises that hold valuable and sensitive data and information related to the business’ consumers are normally at a higher risk from hackers and malicious viruses. So as to guard this sensitive data, businesses must integrate cost effective web application security measures. In a nutshell, companies should consider acquire services of a reliable managed web applications security provider that provides extensive security.
One might wonder as to what potential threats are their web applications servers vulnerable to. Well, if we talk about threats, they are too many! Each and every device that is connected to the internet receives a unique IP address. This IP address comprises of two components, namely a host component and a network component.
Considered to be the hottest debate today in the information technology community, cloud computing is subjected to some criticism as well as a lot of fame. Those in support of the technology, suggest that the scalability, flexibility, and economics of the cloud; make cloud based website management, a practical and logical choice, while its opponents point out the concerns related to privacy and security, which are reasons strong enough, to not move businesses to the cloud.
Web applications have been in trend for a while now and they keep on advancing. They have perhaps penetrated all the crucial segments of our daily lives that include our corporate and business world as well. Business applications related to accounting, customer relationship Management, collaboration, Enterprise Resource Management, online banking, content management, E-commerce are now all made available on the Internet. Web Applications have played a vital role in increasing speed and accessibility to all kinds of business information for an enterprise’s clients, partners and employees. They have also assisted in allowing savings. Today, not only have most things shifted to the web but almost all of them host a business’ most sensitive and valuable data.
The web applications you utilize in day to day business activities can be the biggest vulnerability for your company. How? Web applications of today aren’t as safe from hackers as we think; they do not have the ability to recognize attacking or threatening traffic. This makes them a prime target for hackers, they use this vulnerability of web applications to gain access to other systems and cause damage.
Like every other popular service or software on the internet, WordPress is prone to hacker attacks. There are some vulnerabilities in WordPress itself. Other security risks are created because of user neglect and carelessness. Users create websites and blog pages using WordPress and all their information is at risk when proper care is not taken to keep the pages secure.
Following are some common security risks that users face when using WordPress, by avoiding these you can keep your websites safe:
Secure Sockets Layer or SSL pertains to the standard security technology utilized mainly for establishing an encrypted link between a browser and a server. This link makes sure that all essential data are transferred between browsers and web servers in an integral and private manner. SSL is a widely known digital networking protocol managing client authentication, server authentication and the encrypted communication between clients and servers.
The Transport Layer Security or TLS, on the other hand, pertains to the protocol that completely ensures privacy between exclusive communication applications and their respective users online. When a client and a server interact or communicate, this technology makes sure that there is no third-party tampering or eavesdropping with the messages. The Transport Layer Security is said to be the successor of Secure Sockets Layer of SSL.
Freak-Analyzed and Defined
Freak attacks take advantage of RSA Export major clippers that are designed to be weaker on purpose so that they will fit in the borders of US Encryption controls of export of previous years. The deconstruction of attack is composed of three steps which are outlined below:
This is as simple as going to a public Wi-Fi area and setting up the proxy. Modify the traffic of clients to request the main Export RSA key.
There are reliable services specifically for this pursuit. One of these is using the online services of Amazon which only takes about 7 to 12 hours for one hundred dollars. Modify or monitor the traffic that is going between the unconfirmed server and vulnerable client in plain text.
You might have caught caution in the third step which is unconfirmed server and vulnerable client. The server must be willing to negotiate the weaker export key or must host the susceptible third-party software like the Facebook JavaScript SDK, sites that include Facebook’s login button and like button or Apache’s Open SSL and mod_SSL versions. Some susceptible devices and clients can include the Safari on any Apple device.
What You Need to Do to Ensure Ultimate Personal Protection
Freak attacks are getting widespread more than you previously thought. Browsers using OpenSSL are susceptible and this includes Android browsers and perhaps Samsung-derived browsers called “Internet.” Similarly, Apple’s exclusive implementation of TLS, known as Secure Transport, puts OS X and also Safari at risk.
The best thing that needs to be done now is to ensure your protection against this vulnerability. However, you need to make sure that you have clear ideas on how to configure this for your usual privacy. If you truly want to protect yourself, this can be done in simple steps.
If you are running a web server, you need to disable support for all the export suites, but you also need to check and ensure that you are not utilizing any known unsecure ciphers. Enabling support also needs to be done to forward exclusivity or secrecy.
