Securing Credentials from SQL Injection Attack Using Encryption and Hashing - MSc Internship - Cyber Security

Oct 13, 2026

In daily life, web applications handle usernames, passwords, and other sensitive card-related information, making credential protection critical. Following OWASP guidance, SQL Injection is highlighted as a leading vulnerability that can expose passwords on screen, enabling attackers to derive hashing methods and then recover credentials. The project proposes full-stack protection by hashing and encrypting credentials, filtering user input to block malicious SQL payloads, and using Argon2 as a memory-hard hashing algorithm to resist GPU/ASIC cracking.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time7 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1 Introduction

Securing Credentials from SQL Injection Attack Using Encryption and Hashing MSc Internship Cyber Security Farhaan Kaleem x17169003 School of Computing National College of Ireland Supervisor: Mr Imran Khan National College of Ireland MSc Project Submission Sheet School of Computing Student Name: Mr. Farhaan Kaleem Student ID: x17169003 Programme: MSc. In Cyber Security Year: 2018-2019 Module: Academic Internship Supervisor: Mr. Imran Khan Submission Due Date: 12/08/2019 Project Title: Securing Credentials from SQL Injection Attack Using Encryption and Hashing Word Count: 6,036 Words Page Count: 17 Pages I hereby certify that the information contained in this (my submission) is information pertaining to research I conducted for this project. All information other than my own contribution will be fully referenced and listed in the relevant bibliography section at the rear of the project. ALL internet material must be referenced in the bibliography section. Students are required to use the Referencing Standard specified in the report template. To use other author's written or electronic work is illegal (plagiarism) and may result in disciplinary action. Signature: Date: 10th August 2019 PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS AND CHECKLIST | Attach a completed copy of this sheet to each project (including multiple copies) | □ | | --- | --- | | Attach a Moodle submission receipt of the online project submission, to each project (including multiple copies) . | □ | | You must ensure that you retain a HARD COPY of the project, both for your own reference and in case a project is lost or mislaid. It is not sufficient to keep a copy on computer. | □ | Assignments that are submitted to the Programme Coordinator Office must be placed into the assignment box located outside the office. | Office Use Only | | | --- | --- | | Signature: | | | Date: | | | Penalty Applied (if applicable): | | Securing Credentials from SQL Injection Attack Using Encryption and Hashing Farhaan Kaleem x17169003 Abstract In our daily life, we use web applications for most of the purposes like banking, food ordering and online shopping. Most of the web applications hold the information like our username and password, using which the card details and other such sensitive information can be acquired. According to OWASP, today most of the web applications are vulnerable to SQL Injection Attack. SQL Injection attack can show the sensitive data like passwords on the screen that can be used by other unauthorised users. These passwords are usually hashed, but from the hash we can identify the algorithm used and hence break it. This paper aims the full stack web application developers, who use SQL database for storing the credentials. This paper proposes a system in which the user credentials are not only hashed, but also encrypted. Also the system filters the input, so that no malicious code can be inserted into the database to prevent SQL Injection Attack. The system uses the Argon2 hashing algorithm that was the winner of Password Hashing competition held in July 2015. 1 Introduction We use web applications for most of the things today, wherein we give our personal information to the websites. Hence it becomes necessary for the developer to protect the data from the hackers. OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) 2017 (―Top 10-2017 Top 10 - OWASP,‖ n.d.) ranks SQL Injection as the number one vulnerability in the Websites. This means that most of the websites available today are vulnerable to SQL Injection. SQL Injection is possible, if the websites build the SQL queries from the user provided input. Hence, in order to get all the information stored in the database, the hacker manipulates the user input to build malicious queries. (Sajjadi and Tajalli Pour, 2013) describes the different threats that can arise due to the alteration of SQL queries. Hackers use SQL Injection to attack the databa

FAQs

What risk does the document focus on regarding web applications?

It focuses on SQL Injection as a major web vulnerability that can expose sensitive credential data such as passwords.

How does the proposed system protect user credentials?

It hashes and encrypts credentials, and filters input to prevent malicious code from being inserted to counter SQL Injection attempts.

Why is Argon2 chosen in this work?

Argon2 is described as a Password Hashing Competition winner and a memory-intense algorithm designed to make cracking with fast hardware like GPUs/ASICs more difficult.

Oct 13, 2026

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