What Is An SQL Injection and How Can It Hurt Your Business?
Here we will discuss some of the commonIf SQL Injection vulnerabilities that could easily hurt you or your company. By the time you’re done reading this article, you will have some pretty good knowledge about the potential problems that can be caused by SQL Injection.
What is SQL?
SQL stands for Structured Query Language. A query language is a kind of programming language that’s designed to facilitate retrieving specific information from databases, and that’s exactly what SQL does. To put it simply, SQL is the language of databases. (Further details: https://www.dataquest.io/blog/sql-basics/)
How Does An SQL Injection Work?
A great description is provided by our pals over at IT pro:
A SQL injection attack is when a third party is able to use SQL commands to interfere with back-end databases in ways that they shouldn’t be allowed to. This is generally the result of websites directly incorporating user-inputted text into a SQL query and then running that query against a database. How this works in a non-malicious context is that the user-inputted text is used to search the database – for example, logging in to a specific account by matching it based on the username and password entered by the user.
The most common way to cause SQL Injection vulnerabilities is to use a parameter that is not properly sanitised. This includes anything that is passed as a parameter to a SQL query. A common example of this is to pass an email address in your SQL query for a particular type of marketing. This information would normally be secure because email addresses are typically unguessed and encrypted.
Another common technique is to use the use of an improper type conversion. As mentioned above, email addresses are normally encrypted and unguessed. If a user enters an incorrect email address into a web form or database, they could potentially steal or damage that person’s data. To avoid this problem, always be sure to use an email address that has been securely encrypted. Also, always be careful to use the email that is unguessed.
It is also possible to to cause an SQL Injection by using a table that is not set up correctly. If you have a table in a table, but you don’t use any security in the column, this can cause some serious damage. If you are using a table with security, then the attacker will have to guess at the column name to get the data.
Another problem that could cause SQL Injection is by using the improper types of SQL functions. Many people use a table, such as a VARCHAR, as a temporary table when they are working on a long table. This causes the VARCHAR to become vulnerable to SQL injection attacks.
If a mistake has been made in the SQL code this can create SQL vulnerabilities. It is always recommended that you engage the services of a professional for coding, it is also good practice to keep a backup of your table so that if something does happen, you can roll back.
AN SQL Injection is a very dangerous problem that can easily cause major damage to your company, or a company that you are associated with. You need to be aware of the issues that can occur because you never know which one of them will occur.
How To Protect Your Business From An SQL Injection
It is important that you learn as much about SQL injections as you can. By taking some classes in SQL injection, you can keep your business secure.
You should make sure that your web page is encrypted and you also make sure that you are using the correct types of columns for your database. If you find that you cannot afford to hire a professional, you can still protect your information by using some basic techniques.
Some common ways to avoid SQL Injection include not using the wrong types of security for the columns you tables. You should make sure that you use secure input and output data. The last thing that you want to do is to make the wrong choice when creating a table because it can cause a big issue later down the road.
Always be sure that your company is using the right type of security. and be sure to make sure that you are using the correct type of security for your table. If you make the wrong choice, it can cause major damage.
Sigma Cyber Security engage the services of a number of SQL specialists to assist our clients with identifying potential SQL vulnerabilities and also identifying potential fixes, please get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements today.