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

Language-specific defenses

Securing databases involves implementing specific measures to protect against potential vulnerabilities and attacks. Here are language-specific defenses for programming languages commonly used in web development:

  • SQL:
    • Parameterized statements/prepared statements:
      • Use parameterized queries or prepared statements to separate SQL code from user input
      • This prevents SQL injection attacks by ensuring that user input is treated as data rather than executable code
    • Stored procedures:
      • Utilize stored procedures to encapsulate and execute SQL logic on the database server
      • This can limit the exposure of SQL code to potential attackers
  • PHP:
    • PHP Data Objects (PDO):
      • Prefer using PDO over older MySQL functions
      • PDO supports parameterized queries, reducing the risk of SQL injection
    • MySQLi extension:
      • If using MySQL, consider the MySQLi extension, which supports parameterized queries and provides improved security features
    • Escaping user input:
      • Use functions like mysqli_real_escape_string...