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Application Security

In-depth coverage of application security principles, from secure software development lifecycles to penetration testing and code review methodologies. Learn how to identify vulnerabilities in applications and implement controls that protect data throughout the development pipeline.

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SQL Injection

SQL Injection Explained: The Attack That Won't Die

A 20-Year-Old Exploit Still Topping the Charts In 2023, the MOVEit Transfer vulnerability — a SQL injection flaw — led to the compromise of over 2,600 organizations and roughly 90 million individuals' records. One vulnerability. One technique that's been publicly documented since the early 2000s. And it still

Carl B. Johnson May 26, 2026 5 min read
Web Security Best Practices

Web Security Best Practices That Actually Stop Breaches

In January 2023, T-Mobile disclosed that a threat actor exploited an API vulnerability to steal personal data on 37 million customer accounts. Not through some exotic zero-day — through a misconfigured web API that had been leaking data since November 2022. That's two months of silent hemorrhaging before anyone

Carl B. Johnson Oct 26, 2025 8 min read
SQL Injection

SQL Injection Explained: The Attack That Won't Die

A 20-Year-Old Vulnerability Still Dominating Breach Reports In 2023, the MOVEit Transfer vulnerability (CVE-2023-34362) compromised over 2,600 organizations and exposed data on more than 77 million individuals. At its core, the exploit was a SQL injection. The Cl0p ransomware gang used it to steal data from federal agencies, major

Carl B. Johnson Dec 19, 2024 7 min read
Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-Site Scripting Explained: A Practical Guide

In September 2024, a security researcher discovered a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in a major email platform that allowed attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript the moment a victim opened a crafted message. No clicks required beyond reading the email. The vulnerability sat unpatched for weeks. If you think XSS is

Carl B. Johnson Dec 10, 2024 8 min read
SQL Injection

SQL Injection Explained: The Attack That Won't Die

A 20-Year-Old Attack Still Dominating the Headlines In late 2022, the FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory warning about ongoing exploitation of a SQL injection vulnerability in a widely used healthcare software platform. The flaw had been known for years. The patches existed. And yet, threat actors kept walking

Carl B. Johnson Jan 09, 2023 7 min read
Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-Site Scripting Explained: A Practical Guide

British Airways Lost $230 Million Because of a Script In 2018, British Airways disclosed a breach that exposed the payment card details of roughly 380,000 customers. The attack vector? A malicious script injected into the airline's payment page — a textbook cross-site scripting exploitation. The UK's

Carl B. Johnson Jan 09, 2023 8 min read
Supply Chain Attacks

Removed Legitimate Apps? How Attackers Exploit Trust

When Trusted Software Becomes Your Biggest Threat In March 2022, researchers confirmed that threat actors had compromised the update mechanism for Asus software, ultimately pushing malware to nearly a million machines. The attackers hadn't built anything from scratch. They had removed legitimate code from a trusted update pipeline

Carl B. Johnson Sep 22, 2022 6 min read
Web Security Best Practices

Web Security Best Practices That Actually Stop Breaches

In March 2022, the Lapsus$ group breached Okta by compromising a third-party support engineer's laptop — and suddenly, thousands of organizations realized their web security posture was only as strong as their weakest vendor's. That single incident forced a reckoning across the industry. If your organization runs

Carl B. Johnson Jul 30, 2022 7 min read
SQL Injection

SQL Injection Explained: The Attack That Won't Die

In March 2021, security researchers discovered that Accellion's file transfer appliance had been exploited through — you guessed it — an SQL injection vulnerability. The Clop ransomware gang leveraged the flaw to steal data from dozens of organizations, including Shell, Bombardier, and multiple U.S. universities. This wasn't

Carl B. Johnson Sep 03, 2021 8 min read
Cross-Site Scripting

Cross-Site Scripting Explained: A Real-World Guide

The Attack That Hides in Plain Sight on Your Website In 2018, British Airways disclosed a breach that compromised the personal and financial data of roughly 380,000 customers. The attack vector? A modified JavaScript injected into the airline's payment page — a textbook cross-site scripting attack that skimmed

Carl B. Johnson Mar 04, 2020 7 min read