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The Vulnerability of AJAX Applications

When it comes to emerging web technologies, AJAX is leading the charge as one of the most dynamic tool sets on the development market.  Short for Asynchronous Javascript and XML, AJAX is attracting the attention of developers and businesses around the world.  Unknown to some, AJAX isn’t a programming technology like HTML or PHP, yet a collection of technologies that provide a robust facility for developing powerful web-based applications.  The power of AJAX is seen in many applications today including Google Maps and Yahoo!  mail.

What Makes AJAX So Different?

The purpose AJAX is to enhance speed, interactivity and usability.  The combination of technologies provide a more feature-rich, user-friendly experience.  Instead of loading the requested page at the start of the session, an AJAX engine scripted in Javascript is loaded.  This engine acts a middlemen between the user and the web page, enabling communication between the client and server.  The end result of this interaction is noticed almost instantly.  When making a request to an AJAX page, you may see individual elements of the page update before your eyes (asynchronously) rather than waiting for the page to load completely.

The AJAX Disadvantage

AJAX is a very powerful weapon but one must be aware of the security vulnerabilities that exist.  Some developers have the misconception that AJAX applications offer tighter security because it is believed that the server-side script can’t be accessed without the rendered user interface, which is simply the AJAX-based page.  Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  The mere factor of increased interactivity within the application results in increased text, XML and HMTL network traffic.  This in turn, could lead to the exposure of back-end applications that may have not vulnerable otherwise.  Without adequate server-side protection, it could also give unauthenticated users the ability to manipulate privilege configurations.

Another AJAX vulnerability is associated with the process it utilizes to formulate server requests.  Its engine uses Javascript to capture user commands and convert them into function calls.  These function calls are transmitted to the server in plaintext, making them visible to savvy eavesdroppers.  This could allow an intruder to easily access database fields that contain user login credentials and other critical variables that can be manipulated for malicious gain.  With this information, a hacker can victimize AJAX functions all without directly creating specific HTTP requests to the server.  Coupled with the known vulnerabilities of Javascript, AJAX applications are susceptible to attacks like cross site scripting and similar threats that plague scripts created by other development technologies.

While the evolution of web technologies has enabled applications to enjoy more responsive, interactive, efficient functionality, they also increase the vulnerabilities developers and businesses face on a daily basis.  The growing prevalence of AJAX applications has considerably broadened the threat window, essentially giving hackers a greater opportunity to compromise sensitive data and thieve invaluable assets.  For this reason, developers must stop living under a false sense of security and take every measure possible to ensure that their AJAX applications are completely secure.

Cross Site Scripting: The Underestimated Website Attack

Cross site scripting or simply XSS, is one of most common threats facing website owners today.  This exploit occurs at the application layer, usually targeting scripts embedded in a web page from a client-side browser rather than the server-side.  In general, XSS is an attack that takes advantages of weaknesses in client-side technologies such as HTML and Javascript.  The intent of cross site scripting is to manipulate the scripts within a web application and execute them in a malicious manner for the benefit of the attacker.

Cross site scripting is one of several threats that uses vulnerable applications to exploit a website.  The major difference with XSS is that it does not have the ability to directly steal sensitive information from a back-end database.  Unfortunately, this has led several webmasters to believe that XSS isn’t a high-risk threat.  Ironically, many have gone on to learn the hard way, forced to suffer through public defacement and embarrassment.

The Consequences of Cross Site Scripting

The damaged inflicted by XSS exploits is widely documented.  There have been cases where large corporate websites were hacked by this attack with the results almost always being catastrophic.  Cross site scripting is used to achieve a wide variety of malicious goals and below are some of the most common:

DoS (Denial of Service) Attacks

Accessing sensitive, unauthorized information

Modifying browser and security settings

Spying on victims’ computing activities

Website defacement

Identity theft

The consequences of a successful XSS attack can be crippling for businesses of any size.  Security vulnerabilities in some of the most popular websites have led to the theft of credit card numbers and other identifying customer information.  Consumers have been duped into clicking links that direct them to a rogue site purporting as a legitimate business.  Unaware of the malicious ploy, the customer enters their details into the application, handing them right over to the hacker.  If you are the cause of your customers being compromised, they will rightfully lose trust in your site’s security, a situation that could lead to liability issues and ultimately the loss of your business.

Educate Yourself About Cross Site Scripting

The increasing number of successful attacks is proving that large enterprises are just as vulnerable as organizations working on a smaller budget.  What this really shows is that there is not necessarily a lack of resources, yet a lack of awareness within businesses at all levels.  Numerous security reports reveal that a great number of applications on the web are vulnerable to XSS.  Sadly, is not uncommon to find website owners putting their customers and business at risk by not practicing sound security.

On the surface, cross site scripting may not seem as severe as other threats but that is what makes it so dangerous.  This is one exploit far too many webmasters are not prepared for.  Until more become aware, the problem will only escalate and continuously claim new victims.  Unless you want a disaster on your hands, take every measure you can to ensure that your web applications are secure.

Enter the World of Mobile Domains

It seems as if the bar is being raised on technology every year.  Advancements are coming so fast that even the most sophisticated gadgets aren’t as surprising as they should be.  Some of the more notable technological upgrades relate to wireless technology and cellular phones.  The average phone these days is anything but, coming with the ability to play music, surf the web, pull up directions and more.  Even with everything technology has thrown our way, most would probably agree that they didn’t see mobile domain names coming.

What are Mobile Domains?

The mobile domain is a fairly new concept on the domain name market.  As wireless technology becomes more tightly integrated with the internet, webmasters are increasingly trying to target a new audience – mobile web surfers.  If you are looking for innovative ways to increase your visibility, you may want to consider a domain name strategy centered around the fast growing traffic surfing the mobile web.

In 2004, a case was made for adopting DotMobi as a new Top Level Domain.  In 2006 .mobi became a reality, now standing alongside TLDs like .com and .net.  The major difference is that this extension is exclusive to delivering the internet to mobile devices.  This is not to say that .coms and other popular extensions can’t be viewed over a mobile device.  The advancements in web technology essentially means that any website can be developed for mobile browsing.

Interoperability and Usability Problems

While any given domain can be optimized to provide the internet experience via a PC or mobile phone, integrating the technologies isn’t as easy one may think.  Despite all the advancements, most mobile devices do not support key web elements such as Javascript or cookies.  And because 3G is still only present in a small number of devices, the mobile internet as a whole lacks the speed needed to surf the web effectively.  For this reason, the development of mobile websites must be handled on a separate scale for now.

The Bright Side

The issues of incompatibility does not mean that the technologies will never work in perfect harmony.  For now, you may want to consider leaving your existing website as is and then optimizing another for mobile internet traffic, giving yourself the opportunity to embrace audiences on two separate webs.  Now is probably the best time since using the mobile internet to increase visibility is a new strategy altogether.

One should keep in mind that mobile domains and the mobile internet are both such new concepts that they will require some fine tuning in order to catch up to the much more mature internet.   So, even though mobile technology has come a long way, there is still a while to go before we truly enjoy a seamless browsing experience like we do on a PC.

Mobile domains represent an exciting period for the internet world.  Technology has taken us so far yet we have barely even scratched the surface.  When it comes to mobile web surfing, the possibilities are endless.

Browsers Aiding in Website Attacks

Website attacks are on the rise with intruders using an array of hacking techniques from cross site scripting to SQL injection.  Although careless development and insecure applications play a major role in a site’s vulnerability, the typical web browser is a contributing factor as well.

Despite the fact that several improvements have been made, none of the top web browsers are completely secure.  Because of this, many web security experts are projecting that website attacks will continue to be an issue.  The combination of enhanced functionality and the lack of adequate security implementations have left a number of browsers vulnerable to sophisticated attacks.  Some researchers are saying that the increasing number of exploits is the direct result of Web 2.0 technologies and advanced web hosting features.

Evolution in Technology Opens Doors to Further Threats

Things were fairly innocent in the early days of the internet when static pages were prevalent, before technologies such as JavaScript and Active X came into play.  Today’s World Wide Web is dominated by dynamic web-based applications and complex server-side scripting languages, factors that enable browsers to be used in various ways to exploit websites.  Gary McGraw of Cigital, a software security company, agrees that these feature-rich designs have made browsers far less secure, stating that they are structured more like complete operating systems.

This past September Google released Chrome, its new web browser which was immediately faced with stiff competition in the form of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Opera.  While internet users have a wide variety of browsers to choose from, the options are still limited in terms of security, including Chrome.  Experts contend that the browser war of who can out do one another in the feature department is what ultimately leads to these security vulnerabilities.

Though quite serious, the security issues associated with today’s popular web browsers are not attributed to a lack of effort.  Some say that developers are doing all they can but when considering the fact that website attacks such as cross site scripting and cross site request forgery are typically the result of design, these flaws tend to be much harder to fix than bugs found in software code.  Observers suggest that the vulnerabilities are not going to disappear entirely but do stress that browser developers can do more to enhance security.

In general, development teams only have a little time to address browser vulnerabilities before the hacker community is able to discover them.  Developers are being encouraged to practice browser security just like those who make other software products.  This is extremely important as the major web browsers literally have hundred of millions of users.  One solid approach towards website security is standardized authentication, something that would need to be addressed by system administrators.  Another recommendation is for browser developers to design products that alert users when they are being directed to intranet zones such as localhost or RFC1918 as attackers are increasingly targeting internal devices.  Security firms have also predicted that the manner in which data is handled when requests are made between a browser and website should play a critical part in future designs.