Improving Web Application Security: Threats and - CGISecurity

Chapter 3: Threat Modeling 59●●●●●●●●Failing to secure the configuration management aspects of your application,including administration interfaces.Storing configuration secrets, such as connection strings and service accountcredentials, in clear text.Using over-privileged process and service accounts.Using insecure data access coding techniques, which can increase the threat posedby SQL injection.Using weak or custom encryption and failing to adequately secure encryptionkeys.Relying on the integrity of parameters that are passed from the Web browser, forexample, form fields, query strings, cookie data, and HTTP headers.Using insecure exception handling, which can lead to denial of service attacks andthe disclosure of system-level details that are useful to an attacker.Doing inadequate auditing and logging, which can lead to repudiation threats.Using Attack Trees and Attack PatternsAttack trees and attack patterns are the primary tools that security professionals use.These are not essential components of the threat identification phase but you mayfind them useful. They allow you to analyze threats in greater depth, going beyondwhat you already know to identify other possibilities.Important When you use previously prepared categorized lists of known threats, it only reveals thecommon, known threats. Additional approaches, such as the use of attack trees and attack patterns,can help you identify other potential threats.An attack tree is a way of collecting and documenting the potential attacks on yoursystem in a structured and hierarchical manner. The tree structure gives you adescriptive breakdown of various attacks that the attacker uses to compromise thesystem. By creating attack trees, you create a reusable representation of securityissues that helps focus efforts. Your test team can create test plans to validate securitydesign. Developers can make tradeoffs during implementation and architects ordeveloper leads can evaluate the security cost of alternative approaches.Attack patterns are a formalized approach to capturing attack information in yourenterprise. These patterns can help you identify common attack techniques.