Secure Java Web Application Development Overview

Course Objectives

Students who attend Secure Java Web Application Development will gain an understanding of how to recognize actual and potential software vulnerabilities, implement defenses for those vulnerabilities, and test those defenses for sufficiency. This course introduces most common security vulnerabilities faced by web applications today. Each vulnerability is examined from a coding perspective through a process of describing the threat and attack mechanisms, recognizing associated vulnerabilities, and, finally, designing, implementing, and testing effective defenses. 

Guided by our application security expert, you will explore how to:

• Ensure that any hacking and bug hunting is performed in a safe and appropriate manner
• Identify defect/bug reporting mechanisms within their organizations
• Avoid common mistakes that are made in bug hunting and vulnerability testing
• Understand the concepts and terminology behind defensive, secure coding including the phases and goals of a typical exploit
• Develop an appreciation for the need and value of a multilayered defense in depth
• Understand potential sources for untrusted data
• Understand the consequences for not properly handling untrusted data such as denial of service, cross-site scripting, and injections
• Prevent and defend the many potential vulnerabilities associated with untrusted data
• Understand the vulnerabilities of associated with authentication and authorization
• Detect, attack, and implement defenses for authentication and authorization functionality and services
• Understand the dangers and mechanisms behind Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and Injection attacks
• Detect, attack, and implement defenses against XSS and Injection attacks
• Understand the risks associated with XML processing, file uploads, and server-side interpreters and how to best eliminate or  mitigate those risks
• Understand techniques and measures that can used to harden web and application servers as well as other components in your infrastructure

Need different skills or topics?  If your team requires different topics or tools, additional skills or custom approach, this course may be further adjusted to accommodate.  We offer additional Java / JEE programming, secure coding, secure software development, hacking, database security, bug hunting and other related topics that may be blended with this course for a track that best suits your needs. Our team will collaborate with you to understand your needs and will target the course to focus on your specific learning objectives and goals.

Course Prerequisites

This is an introductory-level course lecture and demonstration style course, designed to provide technical application project stakeholders with a first-look or baseline understanding of how to develop well defended web applications.  Real-world programming experience is highly recommended for code reviews, but not required.

Take Before: Students should have basic development skills and a working knowledge in the following topics, or attend these courses as a pre-requisite:

• TT5102 JEE Web Essentials

Please see the Related Courses Tab for Pre-Requisite course specifics and links, links to similar courses you might review as an alternative, as well as suggested Next-Step Follow-On Courses and Learning Path recommendations.

Course Agenda

Lesson: Safe and Appropriate Bug Hunting/Hacking

• Working Ethically
• Respecting Privacy
• Bug/Defect Notification
• Bug Bounty Programs

Session: Moving Forward From Hunting Bugs

Lesson: Removing Bugs

• Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
• OWASP Top Ten Overview
• Web Application Security Consortium
• CERT Secure Coding Standards
• Bug Hunting Mistakes to Avoid
• Tools and Resources

Session: Foundation for Securing Web Applications

Lesson: Principles of Information Security

• Security Is a Lifecycle Issue
• Minimize Attack Surface Area
• Layers of Defense: Tenacious D
• Compartmentalize
• Consider All Application States
• Do NOT Trust the Untrusted

Session: Bug Stomping 101

Lesson: Unvalidated Data

• Buffer Overflows
• Integer Arithmetic Vulnerabilities
• Unvalidated Data: Crossing Trust Boundaries
• Defending Trust Boundaries
• Whitelisting vs Blacklisting

Lesson: A1: Injection

• Injection Flaws
• SQL Injection Attacks Evolve
• Drill Down on Stored Procedures
• Other Forms of Injection
• Minimizing Injection Flaws

Lesson: A2: Broken Authentication

• Quality and Protection of Authentication Data
• Handling Passwords on Server Side
• SessionID Risk Reduction
• HttpOnly and Security Headers

Lesson: A3: Sensitive Data Exposure

• Protecting Data Can Mitigate Impact
• In-Memory Data Handling
• Secure Pipes
• Failures in TLS/SSL Framework

Lesson: A4: XML External Entities (XXE)

• XML Parser Coercion
• XML Attacks: Structure
• XML Attacks: Injection
• Safe XML Processing

Lesson: A5: Broken Access Control

• Access Control Issues
• Excessive Privileges
• Insufficient Flow Control
• Unprotected URL/Resource Access
• Examples of Shabby Access Control
• Sessions and Session Management
• Lab: Spotlight: Verizon

Session: Bug Stomping 102

Lesson: A6: Security Misconfiguration

• System Hardening: IA Mitigation
• Application Whitelisting
• Least Privileges
• Anti-Exploitation
• Secure Baseline

Lesson: A7: Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

• XSS Patterns
• Persistent XSS
• Reflective XSS
• DOM-Based XSS
• Best Practices for Untrusted Data

Lesson: A8/9: Deserialization/Vulnerable Components

• Deserialization Issues
• Identifying Serialization and Deserializations
• Vulnerable Components
• Software Inventory
• Managing Updates
• Lab: Spotlight: Equifax

Lesson: A10: Insufficient Logging and Monitoring

• Fingerprinting a Web Site
• Error-Handling Issues
• Logging In Support of Forensics
• Solving DLP Challenges

Lesson: Spoofing, CSRF, and Redirects

• Name Resolution Vulnerabilities
• Fake Certs and Mobile Apps
• Targeted Spoofing Attacks
• Cross Site Request Forgeries (CSRF)
• CSRF Defenses

Session: Moving Forward

Lesson: Applications: What Next?

• Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
• CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous SW Errors
• Strength Training: Project Teams/Developers
• Strength Training: IT Organizations
• Leveraging Common AppSec Practices and Control
• Lab: Recent Incidents
• Lab: Spotlight: Capital One

Lesson: Making Application Security Real

• Cost of Continually Reinventing
• Paralysis by Analysis
• Actional Application Security
• Additional Tools for the Toolbox

Additional Topics: Time Permitting

Lesson: Cryptography Overview

• Strong Encryption
• Message Digests
• Encryption/Decryption
• Keys and Key Management
• NIST Recommendations

Lesson: Scanning Applications Overview

• Scanning Beyond the Applications
• Fingerprinting
• Vulnerability Scanning: Hunting for Bugs
• Reconnaissance Goals
• Data Collection Techniques
• Fingerprinting the Environment
• Enumerating the Web Application

Course Materials

This lecture / demo style course includes course notes and other related resources for review after class.