According to leading organizations, secure coding is necessary for software and application developers. Nevertheless, secure coding alone cannot protect software from malicious attackers.
The best way to prevent cyberattacks is by integrating security into the SDLC as early as possible. It can be achieved through applying several secure coding practices.
Use strong passwords
When you hire builders to construct your home, you expect them to take every precaution to ensure that when you move in, there aren’t split beams or foundational errors that could cause a flood. Similarly, software developers are expected to follow secure coding practices to ensure they don’t leave any vulnerabilities open for cybercriminals to exploit.
With the amount of personal data we must provide online, businesses must do everything possible to protect information and prevent unauthorized access from malicious attackers. One of the best ways to do this is through secure coding standards. Secure coding is the process of removing commonly exploited software vulnerabilities throughout the application development life cycle. It helps to protect users’ information and reduces the potential for a cyberattack that can result in costly data breaches, lost revenue, and long-term damage to brand reputation.
One of the most common methods attackers use to hijack sessions is stealing or guessing a user’s password. To minimize the risk of this, it is essential that web applications utilize solid passwords and that they generate new session tokens after each login to prevent attackers from following users across multiple websites or services that they are attempting to hack into.
Encryption
Like homebuilders who take every precaution to prevent split beams or foundational errors that can lead to leaks and structural damage, software developers must uphold secure coding practices. These are often familiar concepts, but it is crucial to ensure they are implemented and understood.
Secure coding practices are designed to make it more difficult for hackers to find and exploit software vulnerabilities. These are usually based on OWASP and SEI CERT guidelines, and they cover various aspects of application security, such as data source validation, cross-site scripting, and injection flaws. OWASP estimates that two-thirds of all web application vulnerabilities stem from insecure coding practices.
One of the most common ways to attack a system is by sniffing session IDs off the wire, and this can be done quickly when these are not properly encrypted. To counter this, it is recommended that developers encrypt sessions near the persistence layer and force HTTPS between the browser/client and the application/web server.
No solution can defend against every kind of vulnerability and session hijacking attack. Nevertheless, it is more difficult for an attacker to obtain access and harms the layers of protection in place. Just as the TSA uses twenty layers of security to safeguard travelers, developers must also implement and apply secure coding practices consistently throughout the development process.
Authentication
As we move more and more of our lives online, protecting the data behind those applications becomes more critical. A security breach could result in financial and property damage, market manipulation or theft, and even physical harm and death. However, most of these attacks stem from flaws deep within the software’s underlying code.
Secure coding practices provide many tools to combat these vulnerabilities during development. From encrypting passwords to limiting the amount of information available to bad actors, these best practices make it more difficult for attackers to access and exploit an application’s sensitive data.
It’s also essential to ensure that developers follow established coding standards and use vetted libraries and frameworks that have undergone regular security testing. These precautions can help prevent erroneous code from being introduced into an application, allowing attackers to exploit common vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows and insecure direct object references.
Using session timeouts can automatically log out users after a certain period, reducing an attacker’s window of opportunity and decreasing the risk of unauthorized access if a user loses or accidentally misplaces their device. It’s also helpful to implement output encoding, which translates inputted data so that it cannot be interpreted as code and used in an attack.
Session management
When attackers capture a session cookie, they can access a user’s account or sensitive information. These attacks are typically executed via man-in-the-middle (MITM) techniques over unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Developers can mitigate the risks of such attacks by implementing secure coding standards and ensuring that libraries, frameworks, and dependencies are secured.
Prevents known patterns: Attackers can often guess or steal session IDs by looking for common patterns or sequences. Randomization of session identifiers and regenerating these on login prevents attackers from being able to predict or hijack active sessions.
Requires authentication: Using a random session key for each new request requires a user to log in before they can use the application. It adds a layer of authentication that reduces the chances of attackers exploiting known vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).
Improved usability: Sessions can have different privilege levels before and after a user logs in, such as browsing rights versus having access to account details or making purchases. Changing the session ID at this transition allows systems to identify potential threats in advance by detecting uncharacteristic behavior, like users trying to log in from two locations simultaneously or repeatedly.
Large-scale cyberattacks like data breaches and phishing get the most attention in the media. Still, it doesn’t take much to cause severe monetary and reputational damage to individuals and businesses. To avoid such attacks, developers must implement secure coding practices from the outset, ensure that libraries, frameworks, and third-party components are securely developed, and continuously update their applications to keep up with the latest research and vulnerabilities.