By finding the chink in your software’s imaginary armor, attackers can exploit that weakness and compromise the data of its users using a variety of attacks like SQL Injection, DDoS attacks, or the use of ransomware and malware. Thus, it is essential to reinforce your software’s defense against these attacks using cyber security solutions and avoiding these common mistakes.
1. No Penetration Testing
Penetration tests are designed to test the security of your software during its development stages as a way to anticipate cyber attacks. This is one of the best ways to tackle potential threats as it acts as a simulation of sorts of an actual cyber attack.
Failing to perform a penetration test on your software is a costly and dangerous mistake and could leave your software exposed to a lot of risks. Through penetration testing, your company or the development team can find security risks, gaps in compliance and simulate the potential real-world consequences of a large-scale data breach.
2. No Third-Party Code Testing
It’s actually quite rare in the software industry for developers to build programs from scratch. It’s a time-consuming process to build software from the ground up, so developers rely on a composite of existing code, tools, and other software. These can either be open source or paid tools. A great example of this software development method is the use of video game engines to build entire virtual worlds and video games. They all rely on existing code and simply build upon it and tweak it to their preferences.
The problem is these third-party tools and software that they build upon could have their own vulnerabilities that the original developers may have overlooked. Since you used them as a backbone for your own software, you’re basically inheriting the same vulnerabilities it has. The only solution is to make sure that the code has been tested and found reliable before even using it. Knowing the third-party code’s architecture will also help you identify if there are any weak links in its source code.
3. Leftover Backdoor Accounts
A common testing mistake in software development is leaving backdoor accounts active even after testing is done. These backdoor accounts were used by the creators during testing and development. However, leaving them active, forgetting they exist, and failing to remove them is like leaving the backdoor of your house open.
Sure, you can always hope that no one finds those backdoor accounts, but it’s better just to delete them and not risk being infiltrated by a hacker. As an added security measure for cyber attack prevention, it’s best to check and sweep everything in case there are backdoor accounts unaccounted for.
Ensuring your software is fully protected against all manner of cyber attacks should be your top priority before releasing your product. Knowing these mistakes during software development can help you prepare for what kind of attacks you’ll be faced with in the future.
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