Application Security Weekly (audio)

APIs are essential to modern application architectures, driving rapid development, seamless integration, and improved user experiences. However, their widespread use has made them prime targets for attackers, especially those deploying sophisticated bots. When these bots exploit business logic, they can cause considerable financial and reputational damage. In this discussion, David Holmes offers insights into the latest trends in API and bot attacks and provides strategies to defend against these threats. Segment Resources: The Economic Impact of API and Bot Attacks: https://www.imperva.com/resources/resource-library/reports/the-economic-impact-of-api-and-bot-attacks/ The True Cost of API Insecurity and Bot Attacks in 2024: https://www.imperva.com/resources/resource-library/webinars/the-true-cost-of-api-insecurity-and-bot-attacks-in-2024/ This segment is sponsored by Imperva. Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/imperva to learn more about them! In the news, fuzzing network traffic in OpenWRT, parsing pro

When a conference positioned as a day of security for developers has to be canceled due to lack of interest from developers, it's important to understand why there was so little interest and why appsec should reconsider its approach to awareness. Dustin Lehr discusses how appsec can better engage and better deliver security concepts in a way that makes developers not only feel like their time is well used, but that the content appeals to them. Segment Resources: - The Security Champion Program Success Guide -- A free guide that includes all steps necessary to build a successful security champion program, with real-world recommendations and examples: https://securitychampionsuccessguide.org/ - Let's Talk Software Security -- A free global virtual community where we host monthly open discussions on appsec topics: https://www.meetup.com/lets-talk-software-security/ In the news, a takeover of the MOBI TLD for $20, configuring an LLM for a CTF, firmware flaw in an SSD, Microsoft talks kernel resilience, six truths

Considerations in paying down tech debt, make Rust work on bare metal, ECDSA side-channel in Yubikeys, trade-offs in deploying SSO quickly, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-298

Check out this interview from the ASW Vault, hand picked by main host Mike Shema! This segment was originally published on May 9, 2023. What does software resilience mean? Why is status quo application security unfit for the modern era of software? How can we move from security theater to security chaos engineering? This segment answers these questions and more. Segment Resources: Book -- https://securitychaoseng.com Blog -- https://kellyshortridge.com/blog/posts/ Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/vault-asw-13

IoT devices are notorious for weak designs, insecure implementations, and a lifecycle that mostly ignores patching. We look at external factors that might lead to change, like the FCC's cybersecurity labeling for IoT. We explore the constraints that often influence poor security on these devices, whether those constraints are as consequential given modern appsec practices, and what the opportunities are to make these devices more secure for everyone. Segment resources: https://www.fcc.gov/document/cybersecurity-labeling-program-internet-things-iot-products Research by Orange Tsai into Apache HTTPD's architecture reveals several vulns, NCC Group shows techniques for hacking IoT devices with Sonos speakers, finding use cases for WebAssembly, Slack's AI leaks data, DARPA wants a future of Rust, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-297

This week, Jeff Pollard and Allie Mellen join us to discuss the fallout and lessons learned from the CrowdStrike fiasco. They explore the reasons behind running in the kernel, the challenges of software quality, and the distinction between a security incident and an IT incident. They also touch on the need to reduce the attack surface and the importance of clear definitions in the cybersecurity industry. The conversation explores the need for a product security revolution and the importance of transparency and trust in security vendors. As development cycles shorten and more responsibilities shift to developers, application security (AppSec) is rapidly evolving. Organizations are increasingly building mature programs that automate and enhance AppSec, moving beyond manual processes. In this discussion, we explore how organizations are adapting their AppSec practices, highlighting the challenges and milestones encountered along the way. Key topics include the integration of security into the development lifecyc

Startups and small orgs don't have the luxury of massive budgets and large teams. How do you choose an appsec approach that complements a startup's needs while keeping it secure. Kalyani Pawar shares her experience at different ends of an appsec maturity spectrum. In complex software ecosystems, individual application risks are compounded. When it comes to mitigating supply chain risk, identifying backdoors or unintended vulnerabilities that can be exploited in your environment is just as critical as staying current with the latest hacking intel. Understand how to spot and reduce the risk to your environment and prevent disruption to your operation. This segment is sponsored by Threatlocker. Visit https://securityweekly.com/threatlockerbh for a free trial! Every mobile device connecting to enterprise assets hosts a unique blend of work and personal apps, creating a complex landscape of innumerable vulnerabilities. Thankfully, methods exist to provide security teams with the real-world insights necessary to pr

Even though Security Champions programs look very different across organizations and maturity levels, they share core principles for becoming successful. Marisa shares her experience in building these programs to foster a positive security culture within companies. She explains the incentives and rewards that lead to more engagement from champions and the benefits that come from so many people being engaged with security. Segment Resources: OWASP Security Champions Guide - Get Involved! - https://owasp.org/www-project-security-champions-guidebook/#div-getinvolved OWASP Security Champions Guide - LinkedIn page - https://www.linkedin.com/company/owasp-security-champions-guide/ The Security Champions Success Guide - https://securitychampionsuccessguide.org/ "Building a Successful Security Champions Program... What Does it Take?" - https://www.katilyst.com/post/building-a-successful-security-champions-program-what-does-it-take The code curation considerations of removing abandoned protocols in OpenSSL, kernel

Modern appsec isn't modern because security tools got shifted in one direction or another, or because teams are finding and fixing more vulns. It's modern because appsec is meeting developer needs and supporting the business. Paul Davis talks about how AI is (and isn't) changing appsec, the KPIs that reflect outcomes rather than being busy, and the importance of communication for security teams. Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-293

Generative AI has produced impressive chatbots and content generation, but however fun or impressive those might be, they don't always translate to value for appsec. Allie brings some realistic expectations to how genAI is used by attackers and can be useful to defenders. Segment resources: https://www.forrester.com/blogs/generative-ai-will-not-fulfill-your-autonomous-soc-hopes-or-even-your-demo-dreams/ https://www.forrester.com/blogs/top-5-things-you-need-to-know-about-how-generative-ai-is-used-in-security-tools/ https://www.forrester.com/blogs/the-blob-is-poisoning-the-security-industry/ SAPwned demonstrates tenets of tenant isolation, a weak login flow puts Squarespace domains at risk, how AIs might (or might not) be useful for fixing code, getting buy-in for infosec investments, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-292

How can LLMs be valuable to developers as an assistant in finding and fixing insecure code? There are a lot of implications in trusting AI or LLMs to not only find vulns, but in producing code that fixes an underlying problem without changing an app's intended behavior. Stuart McClure explains how combining LLMs with agents and RAGs helps make AI-influenced tools more effective and useful in the context that developers need -- writing secure code. Cloudflare's 2024 appsec report, reasoning about the Cyber Reasoning Systems for the upcoming AIxCC semifinals at DEF CON, lessons in secure design from post-quantum cryptography, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-291

Sandy Carielli and Janet Worthington, authors of the State Of Application Security 2024 report, join us to discuss their findings on trends this year! Old vulns, more bots, and more targeted supply chain attacks -- we should be better at this by now. We talk about where secure design fits into all this why appsec needs to accelerate to ludicrous speed. Segment resources https://www.forrester.com/blogs/ludicrous-speed-because-light-speed-is-too-slow-to-secure-your-apps/ They're also conducting a survey on how orgs use Top 10 lists. Provide your response at https://forrester.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Z7ARUQjuzNQf0q Polyfill loses trust after CDN misuse, an OpenSSH flaw reappears, how to talk about secure design from some old CocoaPods vulns, using LLMs to find bugs, Burp Proxy gets more investment, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-290

OAuth 2.0 is more than just a single spec and it's used to protect more than just APIs. We talk about challenges in maintaining a spec over a decade of changing technologies and new threat models. Not only can OAuth be challenging to secure by default, but it's not even always inter-operable. Segment Resources: https://oauth.net/2.1 https://oauth.net/specs/ https://oauth2simplified.com/ https://oauth.net/2/dpop/ https://oauth.net/2/oauth-best-practice/ https://oauth.net/fapi/ https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FedCM_API Thoughts on shared responsibility models after the Snowflake credential attacks, looking at AI's current and future role in offensive security, secure by design lessons from Apple's Private Cloud Computer, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-289

Check out this interview from the ASW Vault, hand picked by main host Mike Shema! This segment was originally published on April 4, 2023. Following on from her successful title "Container Security", Liz has recently authored "Learning eBPF", published by O'Reilly. eBPF is a revolutionary kernel technology that is enabling a whole new generation of infrastructure tools for networking, observability, and security. Let's explore eBPF and understand its value for security, and how it's used to secure network connectivity in the Cilium project, and for runtime security observability and enforcement in Cilium's sub-project, Tetragon. Segment Resources: Download "Learning eBPF": https://isovalent.com/learning-ebpf Buy "Learning eBPF" from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-eBPF-Programming-Observability-Networking/dp/1098135121 Cilium project: https://cilium.io Tetragon project: https://tetragon.cilium.io/ Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/vault-asw-11

Looking at use cases and abuse cases of Microsoft's Recall feature, examples of hacking web APIs, CISA's secure design pledge, what we look for in CVEs, a nod to PHP's history, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-288

Open source has been a part of the software supply chain for decades, yet many projects and their maintainers remain undersupported by the companies that consume them. The security responsibilities for project owners has increased not only in dealing with security disclosures, but in maintaining secure processes backed by strong authentication and trust. Segment Resources: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/lessons-xz-utils-achieving-more-sustainable-open-source-ecosystem https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2024/03/29/reported-supply-chain-compromise-affecting-xz-utils-data-compression-library-cve-2024-3094 https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign/pledge https://tidelift.com/about/press-releases/tidelift-study-reveals-that-despite-increasing-demands-from-government-and-industry-60-of-maintainers-are-still-unpaid-volunteers https://blog.tidelift.com/paying-maintainers-the-howto Application security posture management has quickly become a hot commodity in the world of AppSec, but questions remain around

With hundreds or thousands of SaaS apps to secure with no traditional perimeter, Identity becomes the focal point for SaaS Security in the modern enterprise. Yet with Shadow IT, now recast as Business-Led IT, quickly becoming normal practice, it’s more complicated than trying to centralize all identities with an Identity Provider (IdP) for Single Sign-On (SSO). So the question becomes, “How do you enable the business while still providing security oversight and governance?” This segment is sponsored by Savvy. Visit https://securityweekly.com/savvy to learn more about them! CISOs encounter challenges in securing data amidst the rapid growth driven by Cloud and GenAI applications. In this segment, we will delve into how Bedrock Security powers frictionless data security, empowering CISOs to securely manage data sprawl, allowing their businesses to operate at optimal speed, without compromising security. Segment Resources: Bedrock Security: https://www.bedrock.security/ Bedrock Security X/Twitter: https://twitte

Check out this interview from the ASW Vault, hand picked by main host Mike Shema! This segment was originally published on April 18, 2023. We talk with Ben about the rewards, hazards, and fun of bug bounty programs. Then we find out different ways to build successful and welcoming communities. Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/vault-asw-9

Secure coding education should be more than a list of issues or repeating generic advice. Liran Tal explains his approach to teaching developers through examples that start with exploiting known vulns and end with discussions on possible fixes. Not only does this create a more engaging experience, but it also relies on code that looks familiar to developers rather than contrived or overly simplistic examples. Segment resources: https://github.com/lirantal https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/NPMSecurityCheat_Sheet.html https://lirantal.com/blog/poor-express-authentication-patterns-nodejs The challenge of evaluating threat alerts in aggregate – what a collection and sequence of threat signals tell us about an attacker’s sophistication and motives – has bedeviled SOC teams since the dawn of the Iron Age. Vectra AI CTO Oliver Tavakoli will discuss how the design principles of our XDR platform deal with this challenge and how GenAI impacts this perspective. Segment Resources: Vectra AI Platform Vi

Everyone is interested in generative AIs and LLMs, and everyone is looking for use cases and apps to apply them to. Just as the early days of the web inspired the original OWASP Top 10 over 20 years ago, the experimentation and adoption of LLMs has inspired a Top 10 list of their own. Sandy Dunn talks about why the list looks so familiar in many ways -- after all, LLMs are still software. But the list captures some new concepts that anyone looking to use LLMs or generative AIs should be aware of. https://llmtop10.com/ https://github.com/OWASP/www-project-top-10-for-large-language-model-applications/wiki/Educational-Resources https://owasp.org/www-project-ai-security-and-privacy-guide/ https://gandalf.lakera.ai/ https://quarkiq.com/blog How companies are benefiting from the enterprise browser. It's not just security when talking about the enterprise browser. It's the marriage between security AND productivity. In this interview, Mike will provide real live case studies on how different enterprises are benef