Website Hacking and Security Exploitation Techniques

No software application or website has 100% security. Almost all have gaps that hackers target to exploit and steal online confidential data. What are the benefits of hackers stealing data from websites or applications? If critical data is stolen, it is very detrimental and harmful for the users of the site or an application, and a company's credibility will decrease due to a loss of consumer confidence.

What is a hacker, and what are their motives for attacking a website, computer system, online software, or application? According to Wikipedia, a hacker can be defined as a person or community with specialized computer technology skills to find security holes and solve problems.

Hackers can be divided into several parts based on the context of the goal, namely:

1. White Hat Hackers are highly skilled individuals or groups with the technical knowledge to search for weaknesses in a computer system, software, application, or website to be repaired to reduce the risk of a data breach or theft.
2. Black Hat Hackers are individuals or groups who break the law to attack the security system of a computer system, application, software, or website and then steal data to be used illegally and can cause damage to the exploited object.
3. Gray Hat Hackers are between white hat hackers and black hat hackers. They act to find security holes illegally and inform the owner to get rewarded.
4. Script Kiddie refers to hackers who are amateurs and have no experience writing their program scripts. Hackers usually only try using software they find and download to test and attack a website.
5. State Sponsored Hackers are hackers who work for the government or state intelligence agencies intending to secure computer systems or government sites from other hacker attacks.

The risks are already understood about the vulnerability of a computer system, application, software, or website being hacked by irresponsible people or groups and stealing essential data to be exploited for illegal use. Software houses with reliable and experienced programmers in their fields will work carefully and thoroughly to close any security gaps as early as possible, making it difficult for hackers because of the sophisticated security system. If needed, those investors who have significant capital will work with hackers to secure a computer system and periodically conduct tests to find security gaps so that they can be fixed.

So what are some standard techniques hackers use to attack and exploit site security?

Here are the types of hacker techniques that are often used

1. SQL Injection

This technique usually manipulates a command that can fool the logic of a system during the login process to a site page or web administrator page. Hackers can take over or modify the associated database if the application does not validate the input data or variables from a UR correctly.

For example: ex-am-ple.com/items/iteams.php?itemid=999; DROP TABLE USERS will generate the following SQL query:

SELECT ItemName, ItemDescription
FROM Items
WHERE ItemNumber = 999; 

DROP TABLE USERS

The above query instructs to delete the user data in the database table.

Prevention:

• Setting the form format by limiting the characters and character length allowed when inputted by the user.
• Validate every incoming data with whitelist and blacklist methods which mean filtering codes or characters if indicated as dangerous such as: (&, ;, `,, '\, ", |, *, ?, ~, <, >, ^, (, ), [, ], {, }, $, \n, and \r), while whitelist is a character that is safe to input on a form.
• Parameterized Query is a request (Query) that uses markers, where these markers will be given a value when the query is executed.
• SQL Escape String can reduce the risk of characters that are considered dangerous being converted into other characters, for example:

  $username = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['username']); 
  or 
  $param = mysql_real_escape_string($_GET['ID']).

• Disabling Error Notification can reduce the risk of SQL injection attacks because the error notification feature in SQL injection is a feature that hackers can abuse to exploit websites.
• Create a good Database Structure by separating crucial data such as username, password, or other IDs between database tables and giving access restrictions to each user according to their level. It is advisable to encrypt passwords using SQL features like MD5(), Hash(), Sha1(), crypt(), or base64_encode() functions before saving them to the database table.

2. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

XSS is a technique of hacking a site by inserting programming code, usually using javascript, VBScript, ActiveX, Flash, and other client-side languages. There are two types of XSS attacks: Persistent XSS or Stored XSS is the most damaging type of XSS. In persistent XSS, the script will be permanently stored on the target server, such as databases or message forums. And Non-persistent XSS is an attack that works by inserting code in the URL.

Prevention:

• Filtering for certain characters in the input value.
• Validating POST and GET files to avoid script insertion in uploaded files.
• Implement Cross Boundaries Policy that requires users to register first and be verified.
• Add Security Development Lifecycle, software development that helps programmers make the software more secure and fulfill needs.

3. Brute Force Attacks

Brute Force Attacks are usually hackers using an automated program to guess the user's password repeatedly.

Prevention:

• Restrict users from logging in by giving a maximum of 3x attempts to log in, and if indicated incorrectly, then automatically blocked.
• It creates a combination of passwords with characters, numbers, and special characters, so it takes guesswork.
• It is inserting Captcha code (Completely Automated Public Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) on pages that are considered risky such as login, comment, or message fields.
• Two-factor authentication is a dual security system required when opening an application. 2FA will validate when the user passes the initial phase by sending a code via sms, WhatsApp, or with applications such as Google Authenticator.
• Server integration with CloudFlare is CDN (Content Delivery Network) and web security services.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

DDoS is an attack that targets websites and servers by sending fake traffic so that the server will be disrupted, causing the service to go down. DDoS attacks attempt to exhaust application resources.

Prevention:

• Provide server resource capacity to minimize when traffic spikes occur. It can be checked through Analytics or other software that provides an overview of the number of visitors to predict the amount of server capacity needed.
• Use DDoS protection services such as CloudFlare because the server is spread through CDN, so server performance is not excessive.
• Use a solid Firewall to avoid DDoS attacks because it can filter sites considered dangerous.
• If there is an indication of a suspicious IP where traffic is out of bounds, you can block access from the IP concerned.

4. Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

CSRF is a web exploitation attack that makes users, without their knowledge, send a request or request to the website through the website that is being opened at that time. Usually, this attack is an exploit URL sent to an Email to obtain essential data such as passwords/login emails.

Prevention:

• Implement 2FA on login session.
• Google Authenticator, which functions to revalidate when a login request is made.

5. Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities are hacker attacks by inserting specific files that can be malware that, when downloaded and installed, the malware will infect the computer system.

Prevention:

• Validate and sanitize user input when inserting external files.
• Apply filtering or whitelisting to limit the types of files and sources allowed for insertion.
• Limit access to secure directories and avoid including files from untrusted external sources.

That is a complete description of how to secure a computer system, application, software, or website from hacker attacks that can harm investors or users. For this reason, it is crucial to choose a software house partner that has been tested and trusted to avoid the worst possibilities. Hence, investors need regular maintenance and updates to get program updates.

Therefore, before deciding to work together, it is necessary to consider several important aspects when choosing a software company.