This week, in the Application Security News, we dismiss magical thinking and discuss what generative AI will actually be able to do for us. We also discuss whether Secure by Design's goals are practical or not. OSC&R releases a report on software supply chain that should be interesting, though neither of us had time to read it yet. Also, Watchtowr has some fun with Citrix VDI! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-308

This week's interview dives deep into the state of biometrics with two Forrester Research analysts! This discussion compares and contrasts regional approaches to biometrics; examine the security challenges and benefits of their implementation; and reveal how biometrics holds the keys to a range of engagement models of the future. Andras Cser dives into the technical end of things and explains how biometrics can be resilient to attack. We can't replace our fingerprints or faces, but as...

This week, in the Application Security News, we spend a lot of time on some recent vulnerabilities. We take this opportunity to talk about how to determine whether or not a vulnerability is worth a critical response. Can AI fully automate DevSecOps Governance? Adrian has his reservations, but JLK is bullish. Is it bad that 70% of DevSecOps professionals don't know if code is AI generated or not? All that and more on this week's news segment. Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-307

In this week's interview, Melinda Marks' joins us to discuss her latest research. Her recent report Modernizing Application Security to Scale for Cloud-Native Development delves into many aspects and trends affecting AppSec as it matures, particularly in cloud-first organizations. We also discuss the fuzzy line between "cloud-native" AppSec and everything else that refuses to disappear, particularly for organizations that weren't born cloud-native and still have legacy workloads to worry...

Microsoft delays Recall AGAIN, Project Zero uses an LLM to find a bugger underflow in SQLite, the scourge of infostealer malware, zero standing privileges is easy if you have unlimited time (but no one does), reverse engineering Nintendo's Alarmo and RedBox's... boxes. Bonus: the book series mentioned in this episode The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell. Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-306

After spending a decade working for appsec vendors, Grant McKracken wanted to give something back. He saw a gap in the market for free or low-cost services for smaller organizations that have real appsec needs, but not a lot of means to pay for it. He founded DarkHorse, who offers VDPs and bug bounties to organizations of all sizes for free, or for as low of cost as possible. While not a non-profit, the company's goal is to make these services as cheap as possible to increase accessibility...

Generative AI has been the talk of the technology industry for the past 18+ months. Companies are seeing its value, so generative AI budgets are growing. With more and more AI agents expected in the coming years, it’s essential that we are securing how consumers interact with generative AI agents and how developers build AI agents into their apps. This is where identity comes in. Shiven Ramji, President of Customer Identity Cloud at Okta, will dive into the importance of protecting the...

Better TLS implementations with Rust, fuzzing, and managing certs, appsec lessons from the everlasting transition to IPv6, LLMs for finding vulns (and whether fuzzing is better), and more! Also check out this presentation from BSides Knoxville that we talked about briefly, https://youtu.be/DLn7Noex_fc?feature=shared Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-305

Flaws that arise from inconsistent parsing of JSON and email addresses, CISA's guide to bad software practices, abusing a security disclosure process to take over a WordPress plugin, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-304

Building cloud native apps doesn't mean you're immune to dealing with legacy systems. Cloud services have changed significantly over the last decade, both in the security controls available to them and the sheer volume of services that CSPs provide. Scott Piper shares some history of cloud security, the benefits of account separation, and how ratcheting security helps orgs stay on a paved path. Segment resources: ...

Looking at vulnerable code in Ivanti (Perl) and Magento (PHP), fuzzing is perfect for parsers, handling tenant isolation when training LLMs, Microsoft's small steps towards secure design, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-303

The many lessons to take away from a 24-year old flaw in glibc and the mastery in crafting an exploit in PHP, changing a fuzzer's configuration to find more flaws, fuzzing LLMs for prompt injection and jailbreaks, security hardening of baseband code, revisiting the threat models in Microsoft's Recall, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-302

Zed Attack Proxy has been a crucial web app testing tool for decades. It's also had a struggle throughout 2024 to obtain funding that would enable the tool to add more features while remaining true to its open source history. Simon Bennetts, founder of ZAP, and Ori Bendet from Checkmarx update us on that journey, share some exploration of LLM fuzzing that ZAP has been working on, and what the future looks like for this well-loved project. Segment Resources: ...

More remote car control via web interfaces, an RCE in CUPS, Microsoft reduces attack surface, migrating to memory safety, dealing with dependency confusion, getting rid of password strength calculators, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-301

Fuzzing network traffic in OpenWRT, parsing problems lead to GitLab auth bypass, more fuzzing finds vulns in a JPEG parser, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-300

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...

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 of cyber risk quantification, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-299

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...

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! 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:...

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! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-297

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: ...

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 lifecycle, the impact...

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...