BUILDING A SECURITY SCANNER

I recently built a custom security scanner tool for web application vulnerability assessment. Let me walk you through the development process and key features.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Tool: WebSec Scanner
Language: Python 3.9+
Purpose: Automated web application security testing
Features: SQL injection, XSS, directory traversal detection

ARCHITECTURE DESIGN

class SecurityScanner:
    def __init__(self, target_url):
        self.target = target_url
        self.session = requests.Session()
        self.vulnerabilities = []
    
    def scan_sql_injection(self):
        # SQL injection testing logic
        pass
    
    def scan_xss(self):
        # XSS testing logic
        pass

KEY FEATURES

1. SQL Injection Detection

Tests common SQL injection payloads:

• Union-based injection
• Boolean-based blind injection
• Time-based blind injection

2. XSS Vulnerability Scanner

Detects reflected and stored XSS:

• Script tag injection
• Event handler injection
• DOM-based XSS

3. Directory Traversal

Checks for path traversal vulnerabilities:

• ../ sequences
• URL encoding bypasses
• Null byte injection

IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

Request Handling

def make_request(self, url, params=None):
    try:
        response = self.session.get(url, params=params, timeout=10)
        return response
    except requests.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Request failed: {e}")
        return None

Vulnerability Reporting

def report_vulnerability(self, vuln_type, url, payload):
    vuln = {
        'type': vuln_type,
        'url': url,
        'payload': payload,
        'timestamp': datetime.now()
    }
    self.vulnerabilities.append(vuln)

USAGE EXAMPLE

python scanner.py --url http://target.com --scan sql,xss

LESSONS LEARNED

• Proper error handling is crucial
• Rate limiting prevents overwhelming targets
• Comprehensive logging aids debugging
• Modular design enables easy extension

FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS

• Multi-threading for faster scanning
• Custom payload support
• Integration with popular security tools
• Web-based reporting interface

GitHub: [Link to repository]

Building security tools helps understand both attack and defense perspectives!