Have you ever watched a train go by and seen the cars covered in graffiti? How about driving through a town or city, where the graffiti covers walls, buildings, barriers and fences? It’s truly an embarrassing sight to see. Why do people feel the urge to deface property in such a manner? Is it merely to make a statement?
Do you realize there are people on the Internet who want to hack your web server and leave their own form of graffiti on the web sites hosted therein? They want to alter the content in an attempt to cause you embarrassment. Worse, they may want to steal valuable information because there is money to be made in such criminal activity.
How does an attacker gain access to the system and alter the content? There are several ways.
Accessing the server directly by exploiting security vulnerabilities in the operating system or web application software allows an attacker to gain access. Some vulnerabilities are exploited at the client side by hijacking sessions, executing scripts in the client browser, or executing remote browser control.Regardless of the method of access, there are measures that can be taken to prevent unauthorized malicious access to servers and client computers.
As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Knowledge is gained by having access to information.
Face it business is a global activity. Improving a company’s business position in the global market place often requires decisions to be made in a very short time. Making the right decision means having the appropriate information in the hands of the decision makers. Decision makers need information they can rely upon.
If they receive information that is invalid or compromised, the resulting decision may be incorrect and cost time, money and resources.
The goal is to protect the data contained on client and server systems.
1. Increase website security.Website security begins with managing the physical security of all servers. At the very least, web servers, application servers, communications servers, and communications equipment should be secured in a locked room accessible by those that have a need to access these devices.
2. Incorporate web server security.Securing the server in a locked room secures the hardware.But, what about securing the software and the data? After all, an attacker can still gain access through the connections and exploit vulnerable operating systems and web applications. Ensure the security updates and patches available for the operating systems and application software are current. Encrypt data and data streams accessing the server. If your company performs its own web application development, improve the web application security by adopting secure practices.
3. Install a web application firewall. You probably incorporate a firewall for the communications devices. A network firewall limits access to devices through various communications channels and analyzes incoming data with defined communications policies. Likewise, a web applications firewall analyzes incoming application data to determine if the data is legitimate or an attack on the system.
4. Tighten web application security. Many attackers exploit security vulnerabilities found in application and web application programs. If your company performs its own application and web application development, incorporate practices that do more to secure the code and eliminate holes that can be exploited.
5. Schedule regular security testing. How do you know if your systems are at risk? Well, you can wait until you are attacked and exploited, or you can take a proactive approach and develop security-testing policy and conduct security testing at regular intervals.
