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Study Notes

Security and reliability are common design goals in engineering disciplines, but software development is not as mature.
There have been increasing efforts to improve secure software development processes, such as the Software Assurance Forum for Excellence in Code (SAFECode).
Incorrect handling of program input is a common failing in software development.
Input is any source of data from outside whose value is not explicitly known by the programmer when the code was written.
Programmers often make assumptions about the maximum expected size of input, which can result in buffer overflow.
Interpretation of program input must be validated to avoid exploitable vulnerabilities.
Injection attacks can occur when program input data can influence the flow of execution of the program.
Validating input syntax is necessary to ensure data conforms with any assumptions made about the data before subsequent use.
Fuzzing is a software testing technique that uses randomly generated data as inputs to a program to determine if the program correctly handles abnormal inputs.
Writing safe program code requires consideration of algorithm implementation, machine instructions, and valid manipulation of data values.

Description

Test your knowledge on software security and reliability with this quiz focused on common design goals, input handling, and vulnerability prevention. Explore topics such as the Software Assurance Forum for Excellence in Code, buffer overflow, injection attacks, and fuzzing. See if you have what it takes to write safe program code by understanding algorithm implementation, machine instructions, and data manipulation.