When it comes to application vulnerabilities, there are 2 common groups we might view them: Technical Debt and New Development. I break these down because the way in which we address vulnerabilities is fundamentally different. Something that might not be exploitable receives a very low priority when it is technical debt. However, during new development, it can be addressed with little cost. Much of this comes down to if soemthing is syntactically insecure vs. actually vulnerable. Let’s look at … [Read more...] about Technical Debt vs. New Dev
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Ep. 120: Addressing Root Cause – Vulnerable Components
In this episode we talk about addressing the root cause of an issue versus the symptoms. How can the process of keeping application components updated be improved? For more info go to https://www.developsec.com or follow us on twitter (@developsec). DevelopSec provides application security consulting and training to add value to your application security program. Contact us today to see how we can help. Transcript: In this episode, James talks about root cause analysis versus treating … [Read more...] about Ep. 120: Addressing Root Cause – Vulnerable Components
Ep. 119: Risks of SpellCheck
In this episode we talk about the spell check feature of the browser and how it could present a risk to sensitive data. Listen to the Episode: Link to article referenced: https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/spellchecking-google-chrome-microsoft-edge-browsers-leaks-passwords For more info go to https://www.developsec.com or follow us on twitter (@developsec). … [Read more...] about Ep. 119: Risks of SpellCheck
The risk of Spell Checking
Did you know that input fields on a web form support spell checking by default in many web browsers? This is a feature of the browser that can help catch errors early for the end user. Recently, some testers found that some data may be leaked during the spell checking function to 3rd parties. Here is a reference article describing this: https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/spellchecking-google-chrome-microsoft-edge-browsers-leaks-passwords The first point to make here is this is … [Read more...] about The risk of Spell Checking
Input validation is less about specific vulnerabilities
Security takes a layered approach to reduce the risk to our organization. Input validation is the perfect example of one of these layers. In most cases, input validation is 1 factor in a multi-pronged approach to protecting against common vulnerabilities. Take any course on secure development and they will, or should, mention input validation as a mitigating control for so many vulnerabilities. You might notice that it always comes with a but. Use input validation, but also use output … [Read more...] about Input validation is less about specific vulnerabilities
Is encoding really encoding if it is escaping?
The title might be confusing, let's see if we can clear it up. I saw an article the other day that was giving a comparison between encoding, encryption and hashing. There was a statement made that basically said: Encoding has no security purpose. I thought this was interesting because when training on security topics we mention encoding for specific use cases. For example, when we discuss Cross-Site Scripting, the answer is output encoding. I want to clarify that I agree with the statement … [Read more...] about Is encoding really encoding if it is escaping?