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SQL Injection

SQL injection is a code injection technique that allows an attacker to interfere with the queries that an application makes to its database.

This can allow an attacker to view or modify data that they are not normally able to access, or to execute commands on the database server.

SQL injection can affect any data-driven application that uses a SQL database, but it is most often used to attack web sites.

SQL injection is a serious web application security risk that can cause various problems, such as theft, modification, or deletion of sensitive data, such as personal information, passwords, or credit card numbers

Some statistics on SQL Injection are

• According to some statistics, SQL injection was the third most serious web application security risk in 2021, according to the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) In the applications they tested, there were 274,000 occurrences of SQL injection, with an average incidence rate of 3.37%
• The most prevalent types of SQL injection in 2021 were trojans (58%), worms (17%), and ransomware (7%)
• The most targeted industries by SQL injection in 2021 were education, government, and healthcare
• The average cost of a SQL injection attack for a business was $2.6 million in 2021.
• The most common attack vectors for SQL injection in 2021 were websites (35%), email (32%), and removable media (9%)

What can you do

• Use parameterized queries or prepared statements that separate the data from the SQL code. This can prevent the attacker from injecting malicious SQL statements into the query. Parameterized queries or prepared statements can be implemented in different programming languages, such as Java, .NET, PHP, and more
• Use positive server-side input validation to check the user input for any illegal or unexpected characters, such as quotes, semicolons, or comments. This can help to filter out any malicious input that may contain SQL injection attempts. You can also use regular expressions or built-in functions to sanitize the input
• Escape special characters in the user input, such as quotes, backslashes, or dashes. This can prevent the attacker from breaking out of the original SQL query and injecting their own SQL statements. You can use functions or libraries that are specific to your programming language or database to escape the input
• Limit the privileges and access of the database user that the application uses to connect to the database. This can reduce the impact of a successful SQL injection attack, as the attacker will not be able to perform actions that are beyond the scope of the database user. You can also use different database users for different functions or applications, and restrict the access to the minimum necessary
• Keep your software and devices updated with the latest security patches. This can help to fix any vulnerabilities that may exist in your application, database, or operating system that may allow SQL injection attacks. You can also use security tools or scanners to test your application for SQL injection vulnerabilities and fix them