What is the most effective security control to prevent SQL injection attacks in web applications? Learn how input validation blocks malicious SQL commands and protects databases—essential for CompTIA Security+ (Plus) SY0-701 exam success.
Table of Contents
Question
An attacker is injecting SQL commands into a web application’s input fields to access the underlying database. Which security control is most effective at preventing this attack?
A. Input validation
B. Network segmentation
C. IDS/IPS
D. Strong authentication
E. VPN encryption
Answer
A. Input validation
Explanation
Input validation ensures that user-supplied data does not include malicious SQL commands.
The most effective security control to prevent attackers from injecting SQL commands into a web application’s input fields is input validation.
Input validation ensures that all user-supplied data conforms to expected formats, types, and values before it is processed or included in SQL queries. By strictly validating and sanitizing inputs, applications can block malicious SQL code from being executed by the database.
Input validation should be performed on the server side and use allow-listing (whitelisting) to accept only explicitly permitted characters or patterns, rejecting anything unexpected or potentially harmful.
This control is a primary defense against SQL injection, as most SQL injection vulnerabilities arise from the failure to properly validate or sanitize user input.
While input validation is essential, security best practices recommend combining it with parameterized queries (prepared statements) for maximum protection. Parameterized queries ensure user input is treated as data, not executable code, eliminating the risk of injection even if input validation misses a case.
Other controls like IDS/IPS, strong authentication, or VPN encryption do not directly address the root cause of SQL injection, which is the unsanitized inclusion of user input in SQL statements.
Input validation ensures only safe, expected data is processed by web applications, effectively blocking SQL injection attempts by preventing malicious SQL commands from reaching the database.
CompTIA Security+ (Plus) SY0-701 certification exam practice question and answer (Q&A) dump with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the CompTIA Security+ (Plus) SY0-701 exam and earn CompTIA Security+ (Plus) SY0-701 certification.