A Primer on Security Testing: How to Protect Against Common Cyber Attacks

I. Introduction

In today's digital world, cybersecurity has become an issue that we cannot ignore. Security is a fundamental requirement for any software or network application. Security testing is the testing for the security of software systems, the purpose is to reveal the potential loopholes of the system and fix them. Below, let us start with some common means of network attack and understand how to prevent these attacks through security testing.

2. Common network attack methods

SQL injection attack: The attacker attempts to access, modify, delete data, and even perform some management operations by entering malicious SQL query statements. For example:
```
SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = '' OR '1'='1'; -- ' AND password = '';
```
This query will return data for all users, since '1'='1' always holds.
Cross-site scripting (XSS): An attacker inserts malicious JavaScript code into a web page so that when other users visit the web page, the code will be executed in their browsers. For example, an attacker might insert a script that reads the user's cookies and sends them to the attacker.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Attackers trick users into taking actions they didn't intend. For example, an attacker may create a seemingly innocuous link, but when the user clicks on the link, they may actually take some action without their knowledge, such as deleting an account, changing a password, etc.
Session Hijacking: An attacker impersonates a user by intercepting the session between the user and the server. They may try to get the user's session ID, and then use this ID to access the website.
Directory Traversal: An attacker attempts to access files and directories stored on the server that are normally inaccessible through web applications.
DDoS attack: The attacker sends a large number of network requests to the target from multiple sources in an attempt to exhaust the target's network or system resources, thereby making normal users inaccessible.

3. How to conduct security testing

1. Test against SQL injection

When testing, we can try to insert some special SQL statements in the input field, for example: ' OR '1'='1. If the app doesn't handle this situation properly, we might see data that we shouldn't, or the app might not behave as expected.

2. Test against XSS

For XSS, we can try to insert some javascript code in the input field. For example, we can insert a simple JavaScript popup code: <script>alert('XSS')</script>. If the application doesn't handle this situation correctly, then this popup will pop up when our input is displayed on the page.

3. Test against CSRF

For CSRF, we can try to create requests that seem innocuous, but actually perform some important action. For example, we could try to create a link that, when users click on the link, they actually

An action on , might be sending an email or changing account settings, etc. If the application does not handle this situation properly, such as authenticating the origin of the request, then such an attack can be successful.

4. Testing for session hijacking

You can try to modify the session ID to see if you can access other users' sessions. If you can, then there is a risk of session hijacking.

5. Testing against directory traversal attacks

Insert a path (for example) in the input field or URL ../to try to access a file in the parent directory of the web application. If accessible, there is a risk of directory traversal.

6. Test against DDoS attack

Try sending a large number of network requests to the target from multiple sources to see if the target responds normally.

4. How to prevent common network attacks

1. Prevent SQL injection attacks

The best way to prevent SQL injection is to use parameterized queries or prepared statements. This ensures that data entered by the user is never interpreted as part of the SQL code. For example, in Java, a PreparedStatement can be used to implement a prepared statement:

String selectSQL = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ? and password = ?";
PreparedStatement preparedStatement = dbConnection.prepareStatement(selectSQL);
preparedStatement.setString(1, username);
preparedStatement.setString(2, password);

2. Prevent XSS attacks

The best way to prevent XSS attacks is to properly handle all user input, including validation, filtering, and escaping. For those inputs that need to be displayed on the page, HTML escaping should be used to prevent the code in it from being executed. Additionally, Content Security Policy (CSP) can be used to restrict browsers from loading and executing scripts in pages.

3. Prevent CSRF attacks

A common way to prevent CSRF attacks is to use CSRF tokens. Whenever the user sends a request to modify data, a CSRF token provided by the server that is unique to each session needs to be included in the request. The server will validate this token, and if the token is incorrect or missing, the request will be rejected.

4. Prevent session hijacking attacks

The HTTPS protocol is used to encrypt the communication between the user and the server, making it impossible for attackers to intercept meaningful data. At the same time, the session ID should be updated regularly, and the session should be discarded immediately after the user logs out.

5. Protect against directory traversal attacks

Validate and sanitize all user input, do not use user input directly to construct file paths. Whitelists can be used to limit the files and directories a user can access.

6. Defense against DDoS attacks

Use load balancing and redundancy to improve application availability and stress resistance. At the same time, some specialized DDoS protection services can be used to detect and prevent DDoS attacks.

V. Conclusion

Security testing is an important part of software testing, and its purpose is to discover and fix vulnerabilities that may be exploited by attackers. By understanding and preventing common network attack methods, we can greatly improve the security of our software products. When conducting security testing, automated testing tools and manual testing should be combined to more effectively discover potential security risks.

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