Code Security Auditing: What We Look for During a Security Review

Any piece of software used for internal business operations must be hardened to prevent attacks through any vector, yet all too many companies fail to do due diligence. As a result, sensitive data leaks to the public, databases are compromised and tampered with, and regular operations are disrupted by third-party intrusions.

Assessing the source code of your software tools is the best way to ensure your data isn’t vulnerable to malicious attackers. Integrio Systems approaches code security audit as a part of building and maintaining software, covering more than just stress tests and manual reviews. Today’s article will showcase some of the methods we apply and explain their value for businesses.

What is a Code Security Audit?

On a baseline level, code auditing involves going through some software’s source code and noting (and patching, of course) any potential issues. These may include weaknesses, cryptographic errors, unsecured authorization protocols, and more. While you may find bugs along the way, the priority is to close off attack vectors whenever possible.

However, modern auditing is more than just manually scouring code repositories, as you can use automated tools to test your system’s response to repeat attacks, analyse your architecture’s quality, and optimize logging. It’s both an important step in securing your ecosystem and a chance to improve the overall state of your software.

The overall auditing process will center on a few specific stages, so we’ll break down our approach and discuss the specifics using those categories.

Business Logic & Structural Integrity

First up, your code security audit addresses operational structure and ways to ensure no loopholes remain that could affect your data. Considering that most modern companies use Artificial Intelligence, it’s not surprising that this stage also involves assessing your own AI tools for security and reliability. Generally speaking, this is what we consider a surface-layer analysis: finding clear problems that can be addressed quickly and cleanly, without requiring long-term work.

Logic Flaws

Sometimes tiny flaws in a piece of software result in unpredictable behavior that, at best, disrupts operations. However, if an attacker identifies these logic issues before your team does, they can exploit them to compromise your services, steal sensitive information, or take over the system.

These can be identified through penetration testing by repeating typical workflows and user journeys while also exploring deviations from these norms. Unexpected inputs, illogical consecutive actions, and attempts to consciously “confuse” the software are all part of this.

Data Privacy

One of the core reasons for even conducting an audit is to ensure the privacy of your data. This requires strictly authorized access that doesn’t leave any credentials visible, encrypted storage and transfers, and a gated-off environment for operations.

While we’ll discuss encryption below, we want to point out that code auditing can help you identify technical errors that compromise your data privacy. It’s a way to suss out bits of your code that don’t work in the most crucial spots functionality-wise.

AI Governance & Trust

As we noted above, AI is a key element for businesses today, and the question of how to work with it securely is quite relevant. This aspect of security monitoring involves setting up checks and safeguards to ensure you retain full control over the AI’s data usage.

Some of this can be accomplished by creating your own AI tools and ensuring full legal compliance, thereby meeting standards that actually create privacy protections. However, we recognize that not all firms are in a position to invest in custom AI solutions. Those who work with third-party software need to ensure their code imposes tight limitations and controls on what the AI can access and how it can process data.

Critical Vulnerability Management

Not all security issues are created equal, and this section will focus on ways to address potentially critical flaws in the code. These are typically created due to subpar architecture, faulty encryption, or loose access controls. Let’s take a closer look at these three points to address the most critical issues you could face.

Access Control & Authorization

A core philosophy for any code security audit is to treat every external connection and element as a potential threat, and to minimize their privileges and access accordingly. By gating your system with tight authorization controls, you can safely enjoy the benefits of third-party APIs. During the audit, these connections need to be scrutinized to ensure the limits you set remain in place. They can be disrupted by software updates, code injection, and service outages.

Data Encryption & Injection Defense

While the algorithm itself should be fine if you use industry-standard encryption and avoid rolling your own crypto, issues could arise with key storage or implementation. Improper key management may mean that it’s easily accessed or deciphered, rendering any encryption you have useless.

Another point is protecting your code from injection attacks, which stems from access management and patching logic flaws. These two improvements must also be paired with input sanitation and validation, preventing user-entered data from running in the code.

Architecture & Design Review

Sometimes critical issues slip into the software’s design from the very start due to gaps in the architecture that leave databases exposed and the software poorly suited to operations. You can remedy this by analyzing the solution's structure and changing how it handles certain aspects.

These involve token and session management, the aforementioned input sanitation, adjusting software to be legally compliant, and refining its performance. As a result of this architectural review, you can make your software more secure and more usable.

Third-Party & Supply Chain Integrity

Reliance on third-party services and products is commonplace for businesses, but that doesn’t mean companies should become complacent about the security implications of these services and products. They can easily become a source of tangible threats, and malicious actors have long exploited these attack vectors. Here’s how to handle security issues related to external dependencies.

Risk Prioritization During a Code Security Audit

Not every security issue is going to be pressing and critical, meaning you can focus on the top ones first and leave the easier fixes for later. That’s not to say you can ignore glaring problems long-term, just that certain types of risks are more acute than others and demand immediate action.

For example, we’d classify issues that allow remote code execution and data leaks as “code red” problems that must be worked on as soon as possible. Meanwhile, dependencies and logs that contain private information need to be controlled too, but less urgently. Lastly, some tiny gaps in validation may be addressed when all else is done.

Dependency Risk Assessment

Your audit must include a thorough overview of all API connections, external modules, and platforms you use, as well as the code that integrates them into your ecosystem.

Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

An in-depth SBOM listing every component of your software is mandatory for efficient security audits. These documents contain information on all modules, libraries, dependencies, and other pieces that inform your software’s operations. Therefore, having access to this data in a single space will make it easier to identify vulnerable spots.

Thankfully, several industries already have hard requirements for SBOMs, including fintech (the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), healthcare, and the government sector (CISA guidelines). Therefore, many businesses will already have some form of SBOM, though Integrio specifically recommends taking time out of your audit to ensure this info is up to date and comprehensive.

Cloud Infrastructure & Secret Management

Organic growth often leads companies to adopt cloud platforms for their operations, as they’re typically more cost-effective and provide ample resources for scaling and high stability. However, whether you’re using your own, proprietary cloud or relying on a vendor, introducing this new space means opening up potential new attack vectors.

That said, cloud infrastructure is still more than worth it and, as with any other theoretical security vulnerability, it can be addressed through a code audit. Here are some points related to securing your cloud and managing “secret” data.

Cloud Perimeter Security

Your code security audit starts at the “edge” of the cloud, the so-called perimeter that every interaction passes through before being allowed into the “heart” of your system. This area of your cloud platform can be protected via firewalls, web app or native to the platform, anti-DDoS tools, and ingress gateways.

The goal here is to filter out malicious or excessive traffic, ensuring your system is defending against attacks and unwanted interactions. By setting up reliable firewalls, you guarantee that your outer perimeter isn’t breached and that issues are cut off at the root, preventing them from worsening.

Credentials & "Secret" Protection

“Secret” in the context of cloud platforms refers to sensitive data your business handles, such as login info, payment data, encryption keys, and session tokens. Basically, anything that only a very limited number of people should be able to access. Now, with the rise of automation, much of this data is used not just by humans but also by AI solutions.

This wouldn’t be troubling in and of itself, but the fact is that a piece of software or an AI model is a much more attractive target for hackers. By gaining some basic access to your system and then exploiting these bits of software, they can hijack logins and similar credentials. Therefore, ensure AI’s access is limited and treat it as a potential point of failure, taking all precautions.

Modern Identity (OIDC)

OpenID Connect (OIDC) is an essential tool for modern user authentication, providing a secure, ready-made way to keep access to your ecosystem safe. It’s an addition to OAuth 2.0, which handles authorization. Thus, users first go through the OAuth gateway, and then your software confirms their identity and credentials via OIDC.

These elements use tokens to grant secure access, which streamlines the process but does create a tangible bit of data that hackers want to access. However, when properly configured, OIDC should be a reliable obstacle to any malicious actors seeking to intrude upon your system.

Operational Readiness & ROI

While running a timely audit is nice, experts think it’s not actually enough. Instead, companies should try for operational readiness - meaning a state of constant vigilance and addressing potential issues before they become pressing. Going in this direction can also mean boosting your ROI purely through avoiding security issues and fixing vulnerabilities at a fraction of the cost. Here’s how you can achieve these goals.

Early Integration (Shift-Left)

The philosophy of shift-left auditing is to conduct necessary quality assurance testing at the earliest possible stages of development. That way, you find potential security flaws or bugs at a point where they’re easier to fix and require less cost to do so. Shift-left is also typically paired with CI/CD pipelines, as they’re essential to keeping operations fast.

Unified Security Visibility (ASPM)

In a nutshell, ASPM is an umbrella approach to security audits that involves assembling a suite of tools to monitor your software, detect and stop threats, and protect your data. At its core, it’s a centralized hub for data and functions that lets you focus on a specific point for security audits and ongoing monitoring.

Code Security Audit as a Competitive Advantage

While Integrio Systems always encourages clients to take security seriously, and we do hope that market leaders are doing just that, proper auditing can still give you an edge over the competition. For one, some businesses just plainly don’t do it or do it haphazardly, making them easy to surpass. Others, though, will have alternative approaches and methods, setting a difference between you and them.

By adopting comprehensive, early security integrations and monitoring, you ensure your company is seen as one users can rely on and trust with their data. Depending on the market, this can be a huge reputational boost and, even if it isn’t, having quality security never hurts.

So if you’re ready to tackle your software code audit, reach out, and we can coordinate a program to strengthen your ecosystem. Plus, if you still have any questions after our brief guide, get in touch, and we can discuss ways to enhance your security measures.