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Visa, Chamber Of Commerce Identify Vulnerabilites
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2006-09-19
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
A recent report from Visa - available on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's website - identified the "top five data security vulnerabilities leading to compromises." In addition to giving a brief description of each threat, the report weighed "risk impact," and offered "risk mitigation strategies."
Number one on the list was the "storage of track data (and other sensitive data)." "Track data is the information encoded and stored on two tracks located within the magnetic stripe on the back of a Visa card," the report explained. "Unfortunately, many merchants and service providers may be unknowingly storing this data . . ."
"Missing or outdated security patches" was given as the second security issue. "The timely application of security patches is key to managing this vulnerability . . . . Merchants should establish software upgrade policies and procedures to ensure patches are reviewed and installed in a timely manner."
Next up: "vendor-supplied default settings and passwords." "The default settings and passwords used to access hardware and software are easily guessed and often are well publicized in hacker chat rooms," the report stated. It recommended changing them "prior to deployment into production."
Fourth on the list was "SQL Injection," "a technique used to exploit Web-based applications by using client-supplied data in SQL queries." It is, essentially, a very bad thing that "can result in the crippling of the payment application or an entire e-commerce site." A number of tips for mitigating this risk followed the description.
"Unnecessary and vulnerable services on servers" was designated number five. "All necessary services or applications should be patched or secured," the report advised. "Any and all unused services or applications should be completely disabled or removed from all production environments. Disabling unnecessary services may also increase the system performance and improve stability . . ."
Tag: Data security vulnerabilities
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About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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