System vulnerabilities in cybersecurity are being exploited with increasing sophistication and precision. The risk for institutions and companies, regardless of their size, is increasingly evident. In recent times, we have witnessed numerous attacks, including on important public institutions such as the SEPE in Spain or the Colonial Pipeline, the largest oil pipeline network in the US. In this scenario, it is essential for organizations to reduce the risk of suffering a cyber attack. To delve deeper into this, in this article we will talk about system vulnerabilities in cybersecurity.
What is a Cybersecurity Vulnerability?
A vulnerability is a weakness or flaw within an information system that poses a security risk. It could originate from a configuration error, design flaws, or procedural failure.
This security “hole” represents an entry point for cybercriminals who use these vulnerabilities to enter our system and compromise its availability, integrity, and confidentiality.
Therefore, it is vital to keep our systems safe, find these vulnerabilities as soon as possible, and fix them to avoid these risks.
Difference between vulnerability and threat in cybersecurity
As mentioned, vulnerabilities are flaws, “security holes” in our system. Threats are those actions carried out by cybercriminals who exploit these vulnerabilities.
Therefore, they are different things. The vulnerability is the security breach while the threat is the action that exploits the security breach.
Generally when vulnerabilities appear, there will always be someone who will try to exploit them.
What types of vulnerabilities can I have?
We will now discuss the types of vulnerabilities we can suffer from. However, it is worth remembering that some are more important than others. We will have to assess the importance of each vulnerability, as having an exposed database is not the same as having a leaked commercial PDF.
We will now comment on the types of vulnerability by establishing the following classification:
SQL injection vulnerabilities
These vulnerabilities occur when SQL code that was not part of the programmed code is inserted. This technique alters the operation of a database.
The attacker’s hostile data can trick the interpreter into executing unwanted commands or accessing data without authorization.
Authentication vulnerabilities
These are flaws related to input data validation that allow attackers to access our system.
Another critical point here is passwords. Using insecure passwords makes systems vulnerable, and if they are easily cracked, they can lead to incursions by unauthorized third parties.
Vulnerability exposed data
Many web applications and APIs do not adequately protect sensitive data, such as financial, health, and personal information. Attackers can steal or modify this weakly protected data to commit credit card fraud, identity theft, or other crimes.
Configuration vulnerabilities
These types of vulnerabilities are due to software or server misconfigurations. It can lead to system disablement or other more powerful attacks, such as a Dos attack.
Other types of configurations are related to security, such as open cloud storage and misconfigured HTTP headers.
All operating systems, frameworks, libraries, and applications must be securely configured and patched/updated promptly.
XSS (Cross Site Scripting) Vulnerabilities
This type of vulnerability is characterized by allowing scripts from languages such as VBScript or Javascript to be executed. XSS flaws occur when an application includes untrusted data on a page without proper validation or escaping.
Cybercriminals can hijack user sessions by executing these scripts. Phishing to steal passwords and data is an example of such an attack.
Component-related vulnerabilities
Components, such as libraries, frameworks, and other software modules, run with the same privileges as the application.
An attack could result in data loss or server access if any of these components are vulnerable.
Kartos locates your organization’s exposed vulnerabilities
Kartos Corporate Threat Watchbots is the Continuous Threat Exposure Management platform developed by Enthec for the protection of organizations. Thanks to its technology designed to scan the three layers of the web in search of threats, Kartos locates open gaps and exposed vulnerabilities in your organization to prevent them from being used by cybercriminals to develop an attack. Contact us to learn more about how Kartos can help you neutralize exposed system vulnerabilities and avoid the threats they entail.