What is the SQL Injection Vulnerability & How to prevent it?
SQL injection is a web security vulnerability that allows an attacker to interfere with the queries that an application makes to its database. It generally allows an attacker to view data that they are not normally able to retrieve. This might include data belonging to other users, or any other data that the application itself is able to access. In many cases, an attacker can modify or delete this data, causing persistent changes to the application's content or behavior.
“SQL injection (SQLi) is a technique used to inject malicious code into existing SQL statements.”
A successful SQL injection attack is capable of:
Modifying, altering or deleting data from the database
Reading sensitive and confidential data from the database
Retrieving the content of a specific file present on the database management system (DBMS)
Enforcing administrative operations like shutting down the DBMS
Without proper mitigation controls and security measures, the SQL injection attack can leave an application at a huge risk of data compromise. It can impact the data’s confidentiality and integrity as well as the authentication and authorization with respect to the application. It can also empower an adversary to steal confidential information like user credentials, financial information, or trade secrets by misusing the vulnerability existing in an application or program.
Prevention and Response
Attackers frequently target websites that use known vulnerabilities. Undisclosed, unpatched, or zero-day vulnerabilities also account for a large percentage of SQL injections during targeted attacks.
The easiest way to protect your website against SQL injections is to keep all of your third party software and components up to date. However, a number of techniques exist that you can use to help prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities.
If you believe your website has been impacted by an SQL injection attack and need help, our experts can repair and restore your hacked website. Our dedicated incident response team and website firewall can safely remove malicious code from your website file systems and database, restoring it completely to its original state.