Securing your web applications should be your #1 security
concern
Hackers are concentrating their efforts on web-based
applications - 75% of cyber attacks are done at the web
application level, a Gartner Group study has revealed:
Web application security has become a priority in any
organization. The reasons for this are clear: Web
applications control valuable data and are much more
difficult to secure. Firewalls and SSL provide no
protection against web application hacking, simply
because access to the website has to be made publicly
available! Web applications are posted on the Internet
and can be attacked 24/7 and often have direct access to
backend data such as customer databases. Besides, web
applications are often tailor-made and therefore tested
less than off-the-shelf software, and are consequently
more susceptible to attack.

Various high profile site attacks have amply shown that
it is futile having your firewall perfectly configured
and your OS and key applications at the latest patch
level, if your web application can be compromised in a
matter of minutes, granting hackers access to your
backend data. For a more comprehensive security strategy,
it is therefore essential that you regularly audit the
security of your web applications.

Web application attacks expose customers' credit card
numbers
Well-known sites that were open to web application
attacks include fashion label Guess and pet supply
retailer PetCo.com who were notoriously found to be
vulnerable to the SQL injection vulnerability (June
2003). This resulted in PetCo leaving as many as 500,000
credit card numbers open to anyone able to construct this
specially-crafted URL.

In June 2004, security analyst ZapTheDingbat pointed out
that MasterCard, Natwest, Barclaycard, WorldPay, the
GCHQ, and various other sites had missed some basic gaps
in their security: The security flaw that these sites
overlooked was that of `cross site scripting', which
enables hackers to send a user to the site while
displaying any content and functionality of the hacker's
choice.

One hacker gained access to over five million credit card
accounts in February 2003 through a web application
attack. Similarly, a vulnerability at Tower Records laid
bare the company's customer orders database in December
2002.

The need for automated web application security scanning
Unfortunately manually auditing a web application to
prevent such attacks is complex and time-consuming. With
a web application scanner, the process can be largely
automated. Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner is an
automated web application security testing tool that
crawls your entire website and attacks it so as to
identify potential weaknesses - before hackers do! >>

Why use Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner?

> Ensure your website is secure
> Automatically schedule audits so updates to
applications are automatically re-checked
> Identify vulnerabilities in shopping carts, forms, and
other web applications before hackers can

Download File Size:5.62 MB

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