SQL injection vulnerability is one of the most typical online security threats that every website owner needs to know. It is necessary to test website for SQL injection vulnerability to have confidence in your online business security, and privacy.
Before testing your site for SQL injection vulnerability, understand SQL injections' root and with relevant examples.
Next, you should find out examples of worst-case scenarios that could result from SQL injection. Finally, the article gives you answers to questions such as:
- What kind of websites is vulnerable to SQL injection attacks?
- Does SQL injection still work in 2021?
- What are the first steps that you would take to test the sites for SQL injection vulnerability?
- Where can I practice SQL injection?
- What is the difference between XSS and SQL injection?
Let's get started.
The Ultimate Statistics about SQL Injection and the Most Familiar SQLi Cases
Local Filer Inclusion and SQL injection account for over 85% of attack vectors, with SQL injections alone contributing to over 65% of web-based attack vectors. The result of the attack may constitute one or all of the following:
- The malicious user modifies your website's database structure. Examples of the harmful actions could be deleting the database.
- The hacker views private other users' confidential information such as profile settings and transaction history.
- A malicious user alters other users' system data and configuration information.
- The user takes the database server's charge and runs personal commands on it at will.
- A malicious user logs into one of your website's user's accounts without permission.
- Hacker duplicates a website's sensitive data.
- User deletes website's sensitive data.
- The user alters the website's data.
Now that you understand the magnitude of SQL injection vulnerability, here a few questions to enable you to prepare adequately for SQL injection.
1. What Kind of Websites Are Vulnerable to SQL Injection Attacks?
Malicious website users exploit SQL injection (SQLi) to access sensitive details of any website that relies on an SQL database. Such details are your data, trade secrets, and customer details.
An SQL database relies on a structured query language to send data from a website's form input. The famous SQL databases are Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
They are commonly referred to as RDBMS, short for Relational Database Management System. They store data in tables. Tabular data storage eases data relations with other datasets.
The alternatives to SQL databases are No-SQL databases such as MongoDB and Redis. They store data in documents to facilitate scalability.
The data's tabular structure is a core factor why SQL injection vulnerability is common in RDBMS, as explained below.
2. Does SQL Injection Still Work 2021?
OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) ranked SQL injection vulnerability as a top 10 security threat of 2017.
After that, the SQL injection security attacks soured, the climax being 2019 when Akamai recorded 3.993 billion web attacks in 17 months. Out of the attacks, 1.23 billion attacks occurred in the first 3 months of 2019!
2020 saw the increase in No-SQL database preference among developers as more scalable runtimes such as Node.js continue their web development penetration. Also, more senior developers have been keen on securing their applications since 2019.
Despite the efforts to curb it, SQL injection vulnerability is still one of the trending web attack vectors in 2021.
More (especially junior web) developers repeat similar mistakes when writing database-reliant programs. Also, more developers rely on SQL databases because they are numerous and opensource.
3. What Are the First Steps that You Would Take to Test the Sites for SQL Injection Vulnerability?
If you are not sure your site is safe from SQLi, test it with one of the following:
- Firefox's plugins such as HackBar and SQL Inject Me.
- Paid tools such as Nexpose by Rapid7, Acunetix, GFI LanGuard.
4. Where can I practice SQL injection?
The most specific sites to practice SQL injection are:
- Hack This Site
- Try2Hack
- HackThis!!
- bWAPP
- Game of Hacks
- Google Gruyere
- Hellbound Hackers
- McAfee HacMe Sites
- Mutillidae
- OverTheWire
- Peruggia
- Root Me
- Vacuum
- WebGoat
5. What Is the Difference Between XSS and SQL Injection?
The most familiar differences between XSS and SQL injection are:
- XSS is client-side, while SQL injection is a server-side attack.
- Hackers use JavaScript for XSS, while attackers invoke structured query language for SQLi.
Key Takeaway
Understand when, where, and how to test website for SQL injection vulnerability. You should know SQL basics, testing sites, the SQLi trends, and testing sites, as this article explained.
