Online Code Pad

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Written By Threat NG Staff

An Online Code Pad is a web-based tool that allows developers to write, edit, and execute code in various programming languages. These platforms often provide collaboration, code sharing, and version control features. 

Staying on top of an organization's and its parties' presence on online code pads is crucial from an external attack surface management (EASM) and digital risk perspective for several reasons:

  • Exposure of Sensitive Data: Code written in online code pads can inadvertently contain sensitive information like API keys, database credentials, or internal system configurations. If these code snippets are publicly accessible, attackers can exploit them to gain unauthorized access or launch further attacks.

  • Vulnerability Identification: Code on these platforms might contain vulnerabilities that attackers can identify and exploit. Even if the code isn't directly from production systems, it might reveal coding practices or architectural patterns that exist in production, giving attackers valuable insights.

  • Intellectual Property Theft: Proprietary algorithms, code snippets, or business logic shared on online code pads can be stolen by competitors, leading to a loss of competitive advantage.

  • Reputational Damage: Leaked code or security vulnerabilities discovered on these platforms can damage an organization's reputation and erode customer trust.

  • Third-Party Risk: Employees of partner organizations or contractors might inadvertently expose sensitive data related to your organization while using online code pads. Monitoring their presence is essential for managing third-party risk.

  • Attack Surface Expansion: Each piece of code or project shared on an online code pad expands the organization's attack surface, providing potential entry points for attackers.

By actively monitoring online code pads, organizations can:

  • Discover exposed sensitive data: Regularly scan these platforms for any sensitive information.

  • Identify vulnerable code: Analyze shared code for potential vulnerabilities.

  • Enforce secure coding practices: Educate employees about secure coding and data handling practices when using online code pads.

  • Use automated tools: Leverage computerized tools to monitor these platforms and identify potential risks continuously.

  • Manage third-party access: Extend monitoring and security policies to include partners and contractors.

ThreatNG can effectively help organizations manage the risks associated with online code pads:

1. External Discovery: ThreatNG automatically discovers an organization's presence on various online code pad platforms like JSFiddle, CodePen, and Repl.it, even if employees, partners, or contractors created those accounts or code snippets. This discovery process is unauthenticated and external, requiring no internal access or agents.

2. External Assessment: ThreatNG's external assessment capabilities evaluate the risks associated with discovered code snippets.

  • Sensitive Code Exposure Module: This investigation module directly addresses the analysis of "Exposed Public Code Repositories uncovering digital risks that include Access Credentials (API Keys, Access Tokens, Generic Credentials, Cloud Credentials, Security Credentials, Other Secrets), Database Exposures (Database Files and Database Credentials), Application Data Exposures, Activity Records, Communication Platform Configurations, Development Environment Configurations, Security Testing Tools, Cloud Service Configurations, Remote Access Credentials, System Utilities, Personal Data, User Activity, and Mobile Apps."

  • Online Sharing Exposure Module: This module focuses on identifying and assessing organizational presence within online code-sharing platforms, which would inherently involve analyzing the code repositories for sensitive information exposure.

  • Data Leak Susceptibility: ThreatNG combines code secret exposure analysis findings with other intelligence sources, such as dark web presence and domain intelligence, to provide a comprehensive data leak susceptibility rating. This holistic approach helps organizations prioritize and address the most critical risks.

3. Continuous Monitoring: ThreatNG continuously monitors the organization's presence on online code pads and other external sources for any changes or new exposures. This ensures that new code snippets containing sensitive information are quickly identified and addressed.

4. Investigation Modules: ThreatNG offers various investigation modules to delve deeper into identified risks. [source: 13]

  • Online Sharing Exposure Module: This module provides detailed information about the organization's presence on online code pads, including the specific code snippets, their content, and the associated accounts.

  • Sensitive Code Exposure Module: This module analyzes the exposed code snippets for various types of sensitive information, providing a clear breakdown of the potential risks.

  • Domain Intelligence, IP Intelligence, and Certificate Intelligence Modules: These modules gather additional context about the code snippets, such as associated domains, IP addresses, and certificates. This information helps identify the source of the exposure and assess the potential impact.

5. Policy Management: ThreatNG's policy management capabilities enable organizations to define and enforce online code pad usage policies.

  • Customizable Risk Configuration and Scoring: Organizations can customize the risk scoring model to align with their risk tolerance and prioritize the most critical exposures.

  • Dynamic Entity Management: This allows organizations to define and track any person, place, or entity relevant to their security, including employees, partners, and contractors. This ensures that code snippets any entities share are monitored and assessed.

  • Exception Management: This provides granular control over what's investigated, allowing organizations to focus on the most relevant risks.

  • Pre-built Policy Templates: ThreatNG offers pre-built policy templates that can be used as a starting point for online code pad usage policies.

6. Intelligence Repositories: ThreatNG's intelligence repositories, including dark web data and compromised credentials, enrich the analysis of exposed code snippets. For example, if a code snippet contains a password that has been previously compromised, ThreatNG will flag it as a critical risk.

7. Working with Complementary Solutions: ThreatNG integrates with other security tools, such as security information and event management (SIEM) systems and threat intelligence platforms. This allows organizations to leverage ThreatNG's findings to enhance their security.

Examples of ThreatNG Helping:

  • Identifying a leaked API key: ThreatNG discovers a code snippet on CodePen containing an API key for a critical internal system. The organization can then revoke the key and prevent unauthorized access.

  • Preventing reputational damage: ThreatNG identifies a vulnerable code snippet on JSFiddle that could be exploited to damage the organization's reputation. The organization can then take proactive steps to address the vulnerability.

  • Enforcing secure coding practices: ThreatNG's policy management capabilities help an organization implement its secure coding practices, preventing employees from accidentally exposing sensitive information on online code pads.

Examples of ThreatNG Working with Complementary Solutions:

  • Correlating with SIEM events: ThreatNG's alerts are correlated with SIEM events to provide a more comprehensive view of the security landscape.

Enriching threat intelligence: ThreatNG's intelligence repositories enrich threat intelligence feeds, providing more context about potential threats.

Threat NG Staff
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