Book Image

SQL Injection Strategies

By : Ettore Galluccio, Edoardo Caselli, Gabriele Lombari
Book Image

SQL Injection Strategies

By: Ettore Galluccio, Edoardo Caselli, Gabriele Lombari

Overview of this book

SQL injection (SQLi) is probably the most infamous attack that can be unleashed against applications on the internet. SQL Injection Strategies is an end-to-end guide for beginners looking to learn how to perform SQL injection and test the security of web applications, websites, or databases, using both manual and automated techniques. The book serves as both a theoretical and practical guide to take you through the important aspects of SQL injection, both from an attack and a defense perspective. You’ll start with a thorough introduction to SQL injection and its impact on websites and systems. Later, the book features steps to configure a virtual environment, so you can try SQL injection techniques safely on your own computer. These tests can be performed not only on web applications but also on web services and mobile applications that can be used for managing IoT environments. Tools such as sqlmap and others are then covered, helping you understand how to use them effectively to perform SQL injection attacks. By the end of this book, you will be well-versed with SQL injection, from both the attack and defense perspective.
Table of Contents (11 chapters)
1
Section 1: (No)SQL Injection in Theory
4
Section 2: SQL Injection in Practice

Understanding the practical approach and introducing the main tools

One of the most important aspects in understanding attack techniques and, in general, vulnerabilities and cyberattacks, is exploring firsthand what conducting an attack means, and also evaluating the behavior of an exploited target to figure out what the best defensive solutions might be. This is one of the main principles of ethical hacking: understanding the matter from the point of view of a potential attacker means having a more complete picture of what is happening, all in line with the strategic concepts of "knowing your enemy," which leads ultimately to a strategic advantage. This section is all about this: performing attack tests in a controlled and safe environment to study and experience in person what SQL injection is all about.

In order to achieve this level of expertise, a wide range of tools will be used. SQL injection is mostly a web-based vulnerability, and that means it could be exploited...