Secure Coding Practices

Correct Answer: Implement account lockout after a certain number of failed attempts

A robust strategy to diminish the risk of a brute force attack on user accounts is to implement account lockout after a certain number of failed attempts. This measure significantly hinders attackers from trying an extensive list of password combinations because after a few failed attempts, the account will be temporarily or permanently locked, requiring additional steps to unlock it. This not only slows down the attack but can also alert the user and administrators to suspicious activity. The suggestion to use unlimited login attempts would greatly increase the vulnerability of user accounts to brute force attacks, as it allows attackers to try an infinite number of password combinations without any repercussions. Providing detailed error messages might help users understand login issues but also gives attackers more information about the login process, which can be exploited. Allowing simple passwords eases the burden of remembering credentials but significantly weakens the security, as simple passwords can be guessed or cracked much more quickly and easily than complex ones, making brute force attacks more likely to succeed. These alternative strategies would undermine the security of a web application rather than strengthen it.

Correct Answer: Using appropriate data types and range checking

The most effective practice in preventing Integer Overflow vulnerabilities in secure coding is using appropriate data types and range checking. This approach addresses the root cause of integer overflow by ensuring that variables are of the correct size to handle the expected range of values, and by implementing checks to verify that operations do not exceed these ranges. By doing so, developers can prevent arithmetic operations from producing unexpected results or wrapping around to negative values, which are common causes of integer overflow vulnerabilities. The other options are less effective or not directly related to preventing integer overflow: Implementing input validation for string inputs only does not address numeric inputs, which are the primary concern for integer overflow. Applying strong encryption algorithms to numeric values does not prevent overflow; it merely obscures the data and does not affect how arithmetic operations are performed. Utilizing exception handling for all arithmetic operations is a reactive approach that may catch overflow errors after they occur but does not prevent them from happening in the first place. While it can be a useful secondary measure, it is not as effective as proper data typing and range checking in preventing integer overflow vulnerabilities.

Correct Answer: Use parameterized queries

Parameterized queries separate the query structure and data, preventing SQL injection. Embedding SQL commands increases exposure; strict transport security focuses on HTTPS; web.config stores settings and should not include SQL queries; input validation checks if input matches specific conditions; log files analysis helps to detect vulnerabilities but does not mitigate them.