300 word summary: What is the paper about? Defending Against Injection Attacks Through Context-Sensitive String Evaluation introduces CSSE – Context-Sensitive String Evaluation – a way to detect sqlI in php at runtime – essentially an intrusion detection platform for php apps (though it required modifications to source-code) and its implementation. The Read more…
What is an API (Introduction to APIs) Carrying on from my previous posts on SOA here and here I thought it may be useful to write a post on what an API is, giving some lower level information on my previous posts and an introduction to non-programmers (and junior programmers). Read more…
300 word summary: AMNESIA: analysis and monitoring for NEutralizing SQL-injection attacks. Provides a valuable background section on the countermeasures for SQL injection attacks: Defensive Programming General Techniques against SQLi Static Analysis techniques Provides examples of SQL injection attacks, with sql code. Provides a definition of an sql injection attack: “An Read more…
My MSc Thesis in 2016 was titled Evaluation of SQL injection testing tools and techniques. I had a quick look through all my old uni work looking for content to put on my blog, and decided to see if I could find my thesis online. I found it available as Read more…
My research notes about the different types of sqli – sql injection attack types; inband (eg reading errors from the screen) out-of-band (getting information from a different channel eg from an email after the attack) inferrential (or blind) – getting an error from a system that allows you to re-construct Read more…
What is the paper about? a holistic approach for a static analysis algorithm to detect sqli in web applications using run-time inspection Who is the intended audience? researchers Is title/abstract accurate yes Is the big ‘point’ of the work clear? yes Is there an original/significant contribution to knowledge yes, they Read more…
This paper (A Classification of SQL Injection Attacks and Countermeasures) has an excellent section on Injection mechanisms – the way that sql code is modified to actually perform the injection attack – the attack vectors – user inputs cookies server variables second order injection (seeding an sql injection into a Read more…
Os Detection Techniques and OS fingerprinting Os Detection Techniques – Background information This is a list of Os Detection Techniques, with explanations for all the active and passive Os Detection Techniques I can find for remote operating system identification – there is a massive list of sources at the end. Read more…
service-oriented architecture and frameworks IntroductionPapazoglou, (2003) organised SOA in four architectural layers: Service Foundations, Service Composition, Service Management and Service Engineering and outlined a host of technologies that could be utilised when developing and deploying an SOA system to overcome the challenges of a distributed enterprise system, including application integration, Read more…
Ive completed my MSc Thesis! I was awarded a grade A (81%) and an MSc with distinction :D The abstract from my thesis is below: SQL injection vulnerabilities remain one of the top ten most critical web-application security risks. SQL injection itself is a well understood subject. There are many Read more…
What is an sql injection attack? All websites process data entered by users. An input-validation attack is when unexpected user input is processed by a web server or database and an error occurs. What is an sql injection attack? “An SQL Injection Attack (SQLIA) occurs when an attacker attempts to Read more…
4 Layers in an SOA There are 4 layers in an SOA: Business Processes Business Services Integration Services Enterprise Resources Enterprise Resources existing applications COTS systems (consumer, off the shelf) Object Oriented systems Legacy systems (eg CRM + ERP) Data at this layer resides in existing applications and databases Operations have Read more…
4 types of service in an SOA system. Business services Domain services Integration services Foundation / Utility services Business Services Provide high-level functionality Provides abstraction of the interface Provides integration of the layers below Breaks the direct dependance between business processes and existing systems Provides a virtual implementation Provides business processes Read more…
Challenges of SOA / Comparison of SOA and traditional apps Traditional enterprise applications present themselves as islands of data, automation and security. Integration is needed because of the nature of existing enterprise apps. Islands of Data Each island has its own definition of enterprise objects and information Each Island has Read more…
Characteristics of SOA services Granularity Size / Scope of service Encapsulation Separation of interface form implementation Modularity Business processes can be decomposed into services which can be decomposed into smaller services Loose-Coupling Minimise dependancies to increase flexibilities Isolation of Responsibilities Similar functionality / information should be grouped into services Autonomy Read more…
There are 4 roles in SOA: Architecture team Business analysts Management / executive team Technical team (design / development) Roles in SOA – Technical team (design / development) Answers questions in a bottom-up approach. How will an individual service be: Managed Implemented Deployed Discovered at Run-time Discovered at Design-time Read more…
M-business Security Threats: Device as an attack vector with mobile devices widespread they are commonly being used as attack vectors Virii While not many viruses exist for mobile devices themselves, mobile devices are being used to speed viruses inside networks as most mobile devices don’t have antivirus software installed Default Read more…
Oracle process overview. There are 3 types of oracle processes: USER processes SERVER processes BACKGROUND processes User connected to a user application (eg sql*plus) controls the application associated with an oracle server process Server processes there are 2 types of oracle server process, depending on configuration Dedicated ( 1 server Read more…
Oracle forms overview. Oracle internet platform consists of 3 components: oracle application server (forms service + OC4J) oracle developer suite (forms developer + object navigator + form module) oracle database Oracle application server includes forms service – new generation of tools that allow devs to deploy new and existing forms Read more…
This is a basic oracle procedure with cursor: DECLARE CURSOR my_cursor IS SELECT * FROM table_a LEFT JOIN table_b ON a.x = b.x BEGIN FOR things IN my_cursor LOOP — do stuff END LOOP COMMIT;END;
Oracle instead of triggers, and why you need them: You cant update a view if it contains:group byorder byanalytical /aggregate functionssubqueriesjoins You then need an ‘instead of’ trigger CREATE TRIGGER my_trigger INSTEAD OF INSERT ON my_view FOR EACH ROW DECLARE — stuff BEGIN INSERT INTO table_a VALUES ( :NEW.col_a, :NEW.col_b); Read more…
Oracle logical structures Oracle logical structures can be summarised by the following: Schema. Tablespace. Datablock. Redo log. Schema collection of objects (table, view, etc) owned by db user name is the same as db user mixed up (user is often used interchangeably with schema) access – user has access to Read more…
Oracle control file: binary file start of instance, file is checked database has 1 control file each modifiable only by oracle editing prohibited, even by DBA Keeps track of: datafile names and locations redo log names and locations table-space information name of database time-stamp of database creation Usage: on start Read more…
Since I released my first public wordpress theme (I have made lots of themes over the years, but have never released any as open-source) I decided I would share the build process for multiloquent theme – just incase anyone wanted to know. the tools I use: 1) eclipse (zend-php-eclipse) 2) Read more…
Investment appraisal evaluation SCOTLAB TC COP Savings Achieved Cost of investment Opportunity cost Time-value of money Life of investment Available finance Benefits of investment Timing of income Compound Interest using the above factors you can calculate: Cash flow Opportunity cost Profitability
Evaluation of FPA (Function Point Analysis) Language independant Derived from Specification Re-Usable code / Object Oriented Business software is best suited Training required Innovative code with fewer LOC is not Penalized Backfiring: FPA can be converted to LOC using backfiring tables.
Here are my bullet points for XP extreme programming: [DeLeRIuM Pair] Design Later Reuse / Refactor / OO Integrate continually Minimal system first, expand later Pair Programming [5 ‘Donts’] Don’t Write documentation Don’t Design / analyse before writing code Don’t Specialise in any one area Don’t Leave testing till later Read more…
I’m studying a Masters Degree in ‘Advanced Computer Systems Design’. I have an upcoming exam in project management. One of the areas I’m studying is SDLC [software development life-cycles]. This is a short post on the waterfall method. These are my study notes: Waterfall: The waterfall SDLC method is the Read more…
Subnetting class C networks Benefits of Subnetting: Reduced Network Traffic Optimised Network Performance – as a result of reduced traffic Simplified management Facilitated spanning of large geographical distances How to create subnets: Determine the number of required network ID’s one for each subnet one for each WAN connection Determine Read more…