Security Misconfiguration and Your Web Applications
Security Misconfiguration on your website or web-based applications is preventable if you care about cybersecurity for your business and those who use your applications. That’s because misconfiguration is essentially a lack of vigilance and proper care.
Default implementations, definitions, and maintenance of security settings is what leads to security misconfiguration.
An effective level of security can only be obtained through up-to-date software with a secure configuration that is deployed with your application, server, database, and platform in mind.
A cyberattack that exploits configuration vulnerabilities in your web application can happen at any level of the application “stack,” which is again, your specific platform, database server, application server, website, and framework.
Most of the software solutions your business uses for its presence and operations in the digital marketplace come standard with features that you don’t need or use, but which leave your systems vulnerable to hackers.
Take for instance a debug feature enabled by default, which could allow a cyberattacker to sidestep authentication requirements and find access to private information or site admin permissions.
Another common misconfiguration is a default installation with well-known default usernames and passwords hard-coded into backdoor accounts such as test accounts for the ease of developers.
A classic security misconfiguration is directory listing enabled by default on the server, which a cyberattacker can use to list directories and find files to execute.
Through this opening in a software stack, someone could even gain access to your actual code base and find even more critical flaws to exploit. Your cybersecurity is like a chain, only strongest at its weakest link.
Again, it is important to remember that security misconfiguration, while unacceptably common across many software solutions used by businesses like yours, is avoidable with an appropriate level of diligence and the help of a trained eye that knows what to look for.
