SQL injection is a type of attack against SQL database. This attack can be used to access the information stored in database without proper security measures being implemented. The outcome of this is that malicious attacker will have access to sensitive database data, which potentially can lead to stealing passwords or credit card information and other types of database breaches.
The injected code might be used for authentication, authorization or to perform actions on the site that would otherwise be restricted. An SQL injection attack is often referred to as an SQLi (pronounced “ess-sis”) because it uses a variety of techniques, including Structured Query Language (SQL), to manipulate and exploit the database.
SQL injection attacks are widely known and used by hackers worldwide. They can also be used for reconnaissance and phishing purposes as well as for password cracking (hacking). The attack works by tricking the database into executing an SQL statement that was not expected to execute. The most common type of SQL injection occurs when attackers try to send an unexpected character string to a web application that handles requests for user input. The attacker sends a request that contains an SQL query and an input value, but no data is sent in return. Instead, the attacker receives a response containing the values of all rows that match the query.
A successful attack can be used by an attacker to access sensitive information or modify data in the database. It is important for developers and database administrators to understand how this attack works and how they can prevent it from happening again in their applications. Injection attacks can be performed in two ways: via user input and via the web application’s database.
User Input
This type of attack occurs when a user enters untrusted data into a form. The attacker attempts to find vulnerabilities in the application that will allow him or her to execute arbitrary commands on the server.
Database Injection
This type of injection occurs when an attacker provides malicious input directly into a parameter value of an SQL statement. This can be done by using a specially crafted query string, or by providing excessive amounts of input that causes the parser to overflow its buffer and crash. The injection will often be done through the vulnerable application, which can be in any language that supports SQL, such as PHP or ASP. However, it could also be done directly from the browser, either through JavaScript or VBScript. Injecting even one malicious character into an SQL query will cause the query to execute and return whatever data is referenced by that query. This can result in stealing sensitive information from your database or gaining complete control of your server.
The basic idea behind SQL injection is that you attempt to retrieve data from a server in a way that you should not be able to. For example, if a user were to submit a parameter like “+1” which expects an integer value but instead gets back “+1” — this could lead to an attacker planting an SQL command into the database which would execute when users try to access it.
How to Protect Website from SQL Injection Attack?
To protect your website from SQL injection attacks, we recommend the following steps:
1. Ensure that you are using secure protocols to communicate with your backend servers. For example, instead of sending an HTTP request directly to a URL on the server (e.g., http://example.com/index.php), use HTTPS or another security protocol such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt all communication between your application and the backend server.
2. Ensure that all user-supplied data is properly sanitized before being sent back to the database server so no malicious code can be injected into the query string via this method. This can be done by using input validation or other similar techniques in your code base that prevent untrusted data from being sent back to the database server without first being validated against known good values or by escaping certain characters so they cannot be.
