Book Image

Security-Driven Software Development

By : Aspen Olmsted
Book Image

Security-Driven Software Development

By: Aspen Olmsted

Overview of this book

Extend your software development skills to integrate security into every aspect of your projects. Perfect for any programmer or developer working on mission-critical applications, this hands-on guide helps you adopt secure software development practices. Explore core concepts like security specifi cation, modeling, and threat mitigation with the iterative approach of this book that allows you to trace security requirements through each phase of software development. You won’t stop at the basics; you’ll delve into multiple-layer att acks and develop the mindset to prevent them. Through an example application project involving an entertainment ticketing software system, you’ll look at high-profi le security incidents that have aff ected popular music stars and performers. Drawing from the author’s decades of experience building secure applications in this domain, this book off ers comprehensive techniques where problem-solving meets practicality for secure development. By the end of this book, you’ll have gained the expertise to systematically secure software projects, from crafting robust security specifi cations to adeptly mitigating multifaceted threats, ensuring your applications stand resilient in the face of evolving cybersecurity challenges.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Part 1: Modeling a Secure Application
8
Part 2: Mitigating Risks in Implementation
13
Part 3: Security Validation

Request forgery

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), is a web security vulnerability that occurs when an attacker fools the browser into doing an unwanted action on a third-party trusted site. The user is authenticated on the third-party site, and the CSRF attack exploits that authentication. One of the most infamous CSRF attacks occurred in 2008 and targeted the WordPress blogging application. The attack is known as the “Samy Worm” because Samy Kamkar created it.

Here’s an overview of CSRF and preventive measures:

  • CSRF attack scenario:
    • An attacker tricks a user into loading a page that contains a malicious request
    • The malicious request is crafted to act on a target site where the user is authenticated (e.g., changing account settings or making a purchase)
    • Since the user is authenticated on the target site, the browser includes the user’s session cookie in the request, making it appear legitimate to the target site
    • The target site unknowingly processes...