Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Weak Development Security Exposes Web Apps to Cyber-Attacks

    By
    Robert Lemos
    -
    June 17, 2017
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      App Security

      Developers continue to leave the vast majority of Web applications open to attack by leaving behind unused code, working with vulnerable third-party libraries and by allowing code frameworks to make requests for content from third-party sites, according to a report released this week.

      The data, collected by application-security firm tCell by observing real attacks on web applications, shows that legacy and third-party code add a significant amount of risk to applications. More than 90 percent of companies had “orphaned routes”—unused code in their applications that could be exploited and do not serve any purpose. In addition, 88 percent of companies had Web applications that used vulnerable third-party libraries, the report stated.

      The data is based on 33 in-production applications and the real-world attacks those applications encountered, Michael Feiertag, CEO and co-founder of tCell told eWEEK.

      “It’s not just what are the theoretical problems, but what are the real-world issues that come up with these environments,” he said. “This is important, because once you have a really good handle on the risk profile of the application, then you can start implementing policies to secure the application.”

      Most Web application developers, if they focus on security, aim to prevent vulnerabilities that fall into the Top-10 list of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). The latest release candidate of the vulnerability list, published in April 2017, focuses on issues such as database injection, poorly coded authentication components and cross-site scripting. Yet, the tCell data shows that the sources of many of the application-risks are actually legacy and third-party code.

      While more than 90 percent of companies had unused code in their applications that posed a security risk, 27 percent had more than 100 orphan routes. Fixing these routes “represents an opportunity to reduce the attack surface (risk) without any reduction in application functionality or business benefit,” the report stated.

      The company also found that 88 percent of in-production Web applications used at least one vulnerable code library or package. The typical Web application used 180 packages, almost 60 percent of which were outdated, the report stated.

      In addition, the average application pulled data from more than 25 domains, including 13 percent which pulled data from advertising, spyware or malware domains.

      Finally, the data showed that companies need to develop the ability to reduce false alerts—also known as false positives, the report stated. While more than 494,000 cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks were attempted, for example, only 0.0001 percent of the attacks actually succeeded in changing browser content and required a response.

      “It is not helpful to identify those half-million attack attempts, because there is nothing that you can do with that,” Feiertag said. “But if you can use the data to isolate the attacker, then you can shut down the attacks.”

      Robert Lemos
      Robert Lemos is an award-winning freelance journalist who has covered information security, cybercrime and technology's impact on society for almost two decades. A former research engineer, he's written for Ars Technica, CNET, eWEEK, MIT Technology Review, Threatpost and ZDNet. He won the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2003 for his coverage of the Blaster worm and its impact, and the SANS Institute's Top Cybersecurity Journalists in 2010 and 2014.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×