Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test

Which design practice helps developers prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities?

1. Use inline comments

2. Trap and handle exceptions appropriately

3. Ignore user input

4. Employ static SQL queries

The correct answer is: Trap and handle exceptions appropriately

The design practice that effectively helps developers prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities is to employ static SQL queries. This approach means that queries are predetermined and not affected by user input. By using static SQL, developers do not concatenate user input directly into SQL commands, which is a common source of SQL injection vulnerabilities. Static queries mitigate the risk since they treat inputs as data rather than executable code, ensuring that even if malicious input is introduced, it cannot alter the logic of the SQL statement. The other options, while they may contribute to application security in broader contexts, do not directly address the specific threat of SQL injection. Using inline comments does not influence SQL query execution. Trapping and handling exceptions appropriately is important for overall security but doesn't specifically prevent SQL injection; it usually focuses on managing errors that could arise from vulnerabilities. Ignoring user input is an ineffective strategy as it could lead to unvalidated inputs making the system more vulnerable, not less. Thus, the most effective method for preventing SQL injection in this context is the deployment of static SQL queries.