How to Identify and Prevent SQL Injection Attacks Step-by-Step
1 min read
Summary
A SQL injection attack is when a malicious actor adds SQL code into input fields or URL parameters, altering the intended SQL queries and potentially gaining access to a database.
To protect against this, it is vital to understand the risk and then identify vulnerable inputs, using manual testing sparsely and using more SQL injection testing tools, checking database logs, and implementing prevention techniques including using stored procedures, validating, and sanitizing inputs, and having stored procedures.
These procedures avoid dynamic SQL and precompile SQL procedures, limiting permissions to only what is necessary, and escaping all special characters in inputs, implementing a web application firewall, and keeping all software updated.
It is also important to test fixes and to implement secure coding guidelines, educating teams, and continuously monitoring for anomalies indicating injection attempts.