Recx - Hands-On Oracle Application Express Security: Building Secure Apex Applications

CONTENTS

Hands-On Oracle Application Express Security: Building Secure Apex Applications

Published by

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

ISBN: 978-1-118-68578-5 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-68613-3 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-68587-7 (ebk)

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EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Carol Long

SENIOR PROJECT EDITOR

Adaobi Obi Tulton

TECHNICAL EDITOR

Greg Jarmiolowski

SENIOR PRODUCTION EDITOR

Kathleen Wisor

COPY EDITOR

Kim Cofer

EDITORIAL MANAGER

Mary Beth Wakefield

FREELANCE EDITORIAL MANAGER

Rosemarie Graham

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

David Mayhew

MARKETING MANAGER

Ashley Zurcher

VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE GROUP PUBLISHER

Richard Swadley

VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER

Neil Edde

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Jim Minatel

PROOFREADER

James Saturino

COVER DESIGNER

Ryan Sneed

Recx would like to dedicate this book to Samantha Booker, for her ever-hilarious insight and fiery temper.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

RECX LTD. is small, agile, British company, formed in 2009 by cyber security experts who have worked in the fields of system and network attacks, exploitation, and applied security research since the turn of the century.

Offering a blend of skills based on the real-world experience of compromising and defending networks, Recx provides valuable capability, insight, intelligence, and creativity to the security challenges faced by system designers.

In addition to hands-on experience of building and breaking systems, Recx also has a strong pedigree in applied security research. This stems from individuals who have worked for a range of UK companies performing research into both offensive and defensive techniques.

Recx has created a range of cutting-edge tools and techniques that assist in the exploitation and defense of computer systems and networks.

TIM AUSTWICK has worked in both research and consulting roles for government departments and commercial organizations within the UK. By monitoring the developments of the growing computer security community, he helped enhance capability through development of attack tools and techniques within the security arena.

After graduating from Edinburgh University in 2000 with a joint honors degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, Tim went on to conduct advanced security research within a highly specialized cyber security testing team.

Tim has devised and presented a number of training sessions throughout his career on a variety of cyber security topics. His interests focus on the diverse range of security risks that has emerged through the rapid rise and constant evolution of Internet technologies.

While engaged as a security consultant by a client, Tim was exposed to the Oracle APEX platform and started devising an attack and audit methodology. Working alongside a great team of APEX developers helped Tim rapidly learn about the structure of APEX applications and the common security vulnerabilities that could be introduced.

Working at Recx, Tims time is split between vulnerability research and client-facing consultancy. Tim has presented security risks and mitigation strategies across a range of technologies at a number of conferences within the UK.

NATHAN CATLOW, after starting out developing commercial-grade applications more than 20 years ago, has worked exclusively within the computer security arena for the past decade in various technical roles with government and commercial organizations.

Nathan has performed incident response, computer forensics, and countless penetration tests for a wide range of top UK and U.S. businesses. This has given him a deep understanding not only of the technical challenges faced by organizations, but also the impact that cyber attacks can have on business operations.

In recent years, Nathan has been concentrating on security within Oracle APEX, researching the structure and operation of the platform to discover security vulnerabilities and common vulnerable code patterns. This knowledge has been imparted into the Recx ApexSec product that performs automated security vulnerability assessments of any application written in APEX.

Throughout his career, Nathan has presented at a number of conferences and recently demonstrated the effect of simple attacks against APEX applications at the UK Oracle User Group conference.

ABOUT THE TECHNICAL EDITOR

GREG JARMIOLOWSKI has been developing Oracle database applications since 2000. He used to build ASP and ColdFusion applications with Oracle databases until he discovered HTML DB. After successfully sneaking Application Express into several federal agencies as a contractor, he struck out on his own in 2007. He focuses on Application Express development projects, but loves a good SQL challenge.