Insecure Cryptographic Storage

The Insecure Cryptographic Storage occurs when the sensitive data is not securely stored. This is not a single vulnerability, instead a collection of vulnerabilities. What does this collection have to do with ensuring that then most important data is encrypted when needed? This ensures encrypting the correct data, proper storage as well as management, not using known bad algorithms and not implementing your won cryptography that may or may not be secured.

The developers usually assume that the storage will not be examined through an arbitrary user. However, most users of the program or application have their access to the temporary files, registry and databases. Remember that it is possible for the users to have the access of the sensitive data in its unencrypted format with the use of the hidden, temporary and registry files. Moreover, an attacker can gain access to use another one of the vulnerabilities such as “Direct Object Access”.

What a developer can do save and protect his/her data? The developers should identify every sensitive data as well as encrypt data although it is stored on their hard drive. They should make sure that the sensitive data are not easy to over write or overwrite the sensitive memory locations instantly. 

It is also important for you to identify the people who should or who should not have the knowledge about the secrets that includes encryption keys, proprietary algorithms and DRM. Usually, it is recommended that you hide the secrets even to the administrators.

Ways on How to Secure the Sensitive Data

Below are the steps that you can consider in order to ensure that your sensitive data is secured and safe from any attackers and anonymous users.

• Identifying all the sensitive data and encrypting it although it is stored on a hard drive must be done.
• You need to ensure that the sensitive data are not possible to overwrite.
• If the data is no longer needed in your memory, you need to overwrite the sensitive memory locations as soon as possible.
• Be able to identify the people or users who should and should not know secrets.
• You must keep the secrets and if possible, do not let the administrators know any of them.
• Make sure to identify the sensitive data that is read into memory, overwrite them along with the random data. You need to use a strong encryption in order to safeguard it.

Two ways to detect and secure the Insecure Cryptography Storage

If you are experiencing flaws such as not encrypting the correct data or improper key management, the way to fix them is to sit down and be able to look at what scope of the application is. You need to look at the internal business processes and to review the ways in order to make sure that you really follow the best practice.

The other way to fix Insecure Cryptography Storage or the known insecure algorithms is through the whole variety of the security scanning tools.