Top 5 Security Vulnerabilities that Organizations Should Prevent

Large-scale data breaches always make it to the headlines.  According to a report made by The US National Cybersecurity Alliance, 60% of the companies cannot sustain the business after a cyber-attack.  No matter it is a data loss or data breach, it can damage the reputation of your organization to a great extent. It is essential for companies to protect their digital assets from security vulnerabilities that threaten constantly.  Companies need a proactive approach that involves putting all the IT security measures in one place.

The cyberattacks have become persistent and complex in recent years. IT security covers a broad spectrum of security solutions that can be sometimes overwhelming.  No one is safe from cyberattacks without knowing about these vulnerabilities.

Common security vulnerabilities

Here we have listed the top 5 vulnerabilities that are common and organizations can take measures to prevent them. The below security vulnerabilities are prioritized on the basis of impact, dependability, and exploitability.

1. Broken authentication 

The websites create a session cookie for each session that contains sensitive data. Whenever the web session interrupts or ends abruptly by closing the browser, the cookies become invalid. The data remains in the system – putting the security at risk.   The cookies of the vulnerable sites sit on the system for some time and the data on the system is likely to be exposed to attackers.

To prevent this vulnerability, authentication and session management should be strengthened.  The development team must implement best practices for web security, conduct external security audits and test the code before rolling it out.

Related: Prevent Cyber Attacks with AI-Driven Cyber Security

2. Security misconfiguration

Organizations should be aware of the flaws in the security configuration. Every organization must define and deploy security configuration for application, web server, frameworks, and platforms. The IT security is at threat when the security is misconfigured. Any unauthorized attacker can access sensitive data and functionality.

The security misconfiguration will allow hackers to gain access to sensitive data or functionality of the website that can compromise IT security. In such a scenario, the data is stolen.

Do not keep the website’s default settings. Instead, organizations should spend some time customizing the settings as per requirement.

3. Directory traversal

Attackers and hackers use this HTTP vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to restricted files or directories.   This HTTP attack allows the attackers to access restricted directories and files outside the web servers root directory.   To authorize access, the web server administrator uses an access control list.  To perform the directory traversal attack, the attacker needs some knowledge of finding the default files and a web browser.  The attacker can execute commands by presenting himself as a user who has access to the website.

To check if the web applications are available to directory transversal attacks, organizations should use a web vulnerability scanner that crawls across the entire website and check for the vulnerabilities.

4. SQL Injection

This is a vulnerability that allows the attackers to manipulate the data by altering the backend SQL. The attacker tricks the interpreter by sending an input as a part of the query or command. The SQL command exposes the back-end database, as the web application executes it.

The security vulnerability happens if there is a weak point in the code of the website. This allows hackers to attack or gain control over the website. The primary reason for this kind of vulnerability is outdated software tools or website plugins.

Always update the Website plugins to prevent this kind of security vulnerability.

5. Error handling

This type of vulnerability occurs when the system reveals detailed error messages. That includes – database dumps, stack traces and other problems including internal memory sections, out of memory and network timeout error.

That attacker can use this information to break into the systems as these error messages may offer clues about how the site operates.  Improper error handling may result in denial of services and system crashes – which may expose sensitive data.

To avoid such vulnerabilities, it is important to provide error messages that deliver useful information without revealing the system details.

Bottom Line

The data is one of the important assets of an organization.  Protecting it is an integral part of every organization.   AI Cyber Solutions provides one of the best in class IT security solutions with 100% cloud competency.  if you need strong cybersecurity, contact us today! we will help you prevent security vulnerabilities and protect your IT infrastructure!