Ax Sharma
Contributor
Ax Sharma is an experienced security researcher, engineer, and cybersecurity reporter. His expertise lies in malware analysis, vulnerability research, and web app security. Through responsible disclosure, Ax has previously exposed serious bugs and security vulnerabilities impacting major national and global organizations.
Who's who in the cybercriminal underground
Cybercriminal groups are specializing as malware developers, initial access brokers, ransomware-as-a-service providers, data brokers, and other roles.
Prioritizing and remediating vulnerabilities in the wake of Log4J and Microsoft's Patch Tuesday blunder
Vulnerability disclosures often come in bunches, and unvetted patch updates can create their own problems. Here's how to assess and prioritize both.
6 ways hackers hide their tracks
From trusted pentesting tools to LOLBINs, attackers abuse trusted platforms and protocols to evade security controls.
Software composition analysis explained, and how it identifies open-source software risks
SCA tools give insight into open-source software components and the vulnerabilities they have.
SSRF attacks explained and how to defend against them
Server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks consist of an attacker tricking the server into making an unauthorized request. Defending against them can be relatively easy.
Java deserialization vulnerabilities explained and how to defend against them
Java provides a means to conveniently serialize data to maintain its integrity as it's sent over a network. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in the deserialization process if there aren't safeguards in place.
Securing CI/CD pipelines: 6 best practices
Criminals are exploiting vulnerabilities in continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines to steal sensitive information, mine cryptocurrencies, and deliver malicious code.
15 top open-source intelligence tools
OSINT (open-source intelligence) is the practice of collecting information from published or otherwise publicly available sources. These tools will help you find sensitive public info before bad guys do.
6 most common types of software supply chain attacks explained
Not all software supply chain attacks are the same. Here are the methods attackers currently use to corrupt legitimate software through third parties.
15 open source GitHub projects for security pros
GitHub has a ton of open-source options for security professionals, with new entries every day. Add these tools to your collection and work smarter.
DNS over HTTPS, DNS over TLS explained: Encrypting DNS traffic
DoT and DoH provide data confidentiality with end-to-end encryption for DNS traffic, but each has trade-offs.
5 tips for a successful penetration testing program
Proper preparation is key to finding the real weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your network through a pentest. These are the five things you need to do before starting.
The state of the dark web: Insights from the underground
The rise of professional criminal gangs, malware as a service, and improved infrastructure for carrying out criminal activity are changing the dark web. Here's what that means for enterprise security.
The Windows Bad Neighbor vulnerability explained — and how to protect your network
Attackers could use the Windows Bad Neighbor vulnerability to perform remote code execution or create buffer overflows. Patches and workarounds are available.
Windows code-signing attacks explained (and how to defend against them)
Learn how code-signing attacks work and how to defend against them. It starts with patching.
Homomorphic encryption: Deriving analytics and insights from encrypted data
Homomorphic encryption allows safe outsourcing of storage of computation on sensitive data to the cloud, but there are trade-offs with performance, protection and utility.
4 best practices to avoid vulnerabilities in open-source code
Open-source code in public repositories might contain malware or unintentional vulnerabilities. Here's how to best manage finding and mitigating potential problems.
RDP hijacking attacks explained, and how to mitigate them
Attackers take advantage of a Windows Remote Desktop Protocol feature to take over previously disconnected sessions and appear as a legitimate user to gain system access and control,
5 best practices to secure single sign-on systems
Don't assume that SSO is inherently secure. Follow these recommendations to prevent unauthorized access due to authentication flaws.