People require high security for internet. Most of people find it convenient to manage their bank accounts and business with the help of the internet. In such situation, the web security becomes the most important field in the network security. The interactive forms are written in HTML. Users type the information and send the request to the server to store the information by the user.
The request launches a script on the server that processes the data supplied by the user but the result may be much unexpected which raises the need for server side security. URL Manipulation, unexpected user input, cross site scripting, buffer overflows and heap overruns are all famous known server side risks.
1. Conventional security
Conventionally, a firewall is placed between the web server and the internet so all the HTTP traffic reaching the web server will be secured. The firewall will allow only that traffic to the web server which fulfills all the requirements of the firewall. In this way, the web server can be saved from attacks to a great extent.
2. URL Manipulation
In URL manipulation, some parameters of URL are changed to get different results. The user id present in the URL can be manipulated to get the access of the account of any other user. If * is placed at the place of user id, one can get the list of all the members listed in the data base. Input of any user can be accessed and manipulated present on the page which is the great threat to security and privacy. If there’s a site about Medifast and Nutrisystem coupons containing personal details of different users, then you can manipulate the URL to access personal details of other users.
3. Unexpected User Input
When the server gets the unexpected user input, crashing of the server is the best reaction. Otherwise it will provide the control of the server to the attacker. The attacker may then use the server for whatever he wants to do. He can corrupt your database, download complete database and delete your database. If you don’t have a backup, what are you going to do?
4. Cross site scripting
In cross site scripting, attackers place malicious script on the trusted host’s end. The user may download that malicious script from the trusted host without realizing that this code is dangerous for the security. Sometimes, the server displays error page but due to malicious code, it may appear as a normal login page to the user. The user will enter the required information which can be misused as it will be sent to the attacker.
5. Buffer Overflow
The attackers may launch the attacks which results in access violation, instability and code injection. It may destruct the data stored in the database, causes the malfunctioning of software and many other destructive actions could be performed.
But what’s the solution then? You need to consider a few points to overcome the server side risks. Cryptography should be used to send the whole data in the query string. On the server side, the user input should be filtered and all the characters which are used in the scripting language should be removed.
Happy Hacking (Ashans)
