Posted: August 10th, 2022

SQL injection attacks cause vulnerabilities

SQL injection
What steps would you take to prevent an SQL injection attack?
What are advantages and disadvantages of dynamic SQL statements?
What types of databases are more vulnerable to SQL injections?

SQL injection attacks cause vulnerabilities that make it possible to execute malicious statements. The vulnerabilities can be used to manipulate the database server through a web application. For instance, a list of stolen passwords and credit cards is caused by SQL injection and vulnerabilities. The SQL attack can give a hacker a broad range of leverage. The attacker can modify website content thus accessing account information and sensitive information. The hacking technique was discovered fifteen years ago. The method is highly effective to date and it remains a priority in the database security requirements (Clarke-Salt,2019). SQL has been used to hack the data of high profile organizations such as PBS, Sony Pictures and Microsoft attacks have been used to compromise the personal data of Illinois voters. Also, the attack.
Protecting a web site from SQL injection attacks requires parameterized procedures. The first step is to establish which applications are vulnerable. The best way to accomplishing this is by launching attacks to find vulnerabilities. SQL is a complex language thus running an automated SQL injection attack will easily get the work done. The automated SQL functions by building up questions that analyze the characteristics of the database. The second step is to validate any data that comes through the website through the necessary SQL functions. Checking the data ensures that none of the characters are passed during data exchange. For instance, SQL attacks can be hidden and emails and phone numbers thus filtering such data is imperative (Tajpour,2010).
Applying patches and data updates will enable the system to frequently discover the database that has been exploited by the SQL injection. Organizations should avoid using dynamic SQL because they can be flawed. Dynamic SQL has stored procedures that perform data sanitization routines. The procedure can protect the system from injection attacks but may also fail to protect against many others. Organizations should is parameterized queries, stored procedures, and prepared statements instead. Implementing a web application firewall (WAF) will help in filtering out malicious data. WAF can be used for security protection in place of a patch, For instance; the open-source module Mod Security provides the filter that emanates from suspicious web requests. Continuous monitoring of the SQL will help identified potential attacks. Monitoring tools that can identify rogue SQL can be especially useful.
The benefits of dynamic SQL include predicate optimization of the generated plan for each invocation. The dynamic SQL optimizes the query being used in real-time thus implementing efficient plans. However, one of its drawbacks is speed unlike static SQL, dynamic SQL tends to be slower thus the server must generate the executing plan every time at runtime (Wei et al,2016). Also, Dynamic SQL requires the users to have permission to access the functions. Dynamic SQL requires a syntax check directly, therefore; it can easily interfere with the run time. Web forms are among the databases that are most vulnerable to SQL attacks. Many web forms are not backed up with proper coding thus they can easily get hacked. The webform can reveal web code weakness thus enabling the hackers to easily access the web servers and accomplish hacking missions. Platforms such as Oracle that allow data storage can easily get manipulated by SQL injections.

References
Clarke-Salt, J. (2019). SQL injection attacks and defense. Elsevier.
Wei, K., Muthuprasanna, M., & Kothari, S. Ken, H., Blehzkinov, K.,(2016, April). Preventing SQL injection attacks in stored procedures. In Australian Software Engineering Conference (ASWEC’06) (pp. 8-pp). IEEE.
Tajpour, A. (2010, June). Comparison of SQL injection detection and prevention techniques. In 2010 2nd International Conference on Education Technology and Computer (Vol. 5, pp. V5-174). IEEE.

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