With recent technological advancements, computer scientists are coming up with better ways to ensure cyber security. One such way is through the use of programming languages. Programming languages are a set of codes and keywords meant to provide instructions to the computer to execute. Though a lot of programming languages are available, and new ones are being written every day, not all can be used to ensure cyber security. This article focuses on the relationship between programming languages and cyber-security.

They Can be Used to Fix Database Vulnerabilities

For every business enterprise, databases are quite important. With the advancements in technology, companies are becoming more data-driven. Powering your database with a programming language such as Structured Query Language (SQL) will help you fix such vulnerabilities, prevent attacks such as SQL injection and keep your database more secure from hackers. 

You can also use SQL to detect and prevent issues of identity fraud or theft because hackers can get access to people’s information from your website. Machine learning, which involves training a model on a set of historical data so that it can make future predictions based on that data, will help you detect anomalies in network traffic in an application. For instance, a machine learning model coded with a language such as Python, R, or C++ can help you detect if your client’s card details have been exposed through your website and are being used by another person. The system may perceive it as normal, however, machine learning can recognize if a ridiculously high amount of money is being used to purchase a product or service through the card. Because such a person has most likely never made that kind of payment, it will notify the bank to block the payment so that the hacker cannot access their money. 

They Are Used To Prevent Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks are now prominent on the net. Your company might just suddenly discover that there is a system breach and all their employees’ and customers’ data have been leaked and is probably being used in an unauthorized manner. This can put them in a tight spot as they become entire suspects in the eyes of the public. However, they can prevent this if they have cyber security professionals who understand and use a high-level programming language such as PHP. This will help them mitigate and even prevent attacks from hackers who want to infiltrate their systems.

Programming Languages Can be Used to Build Attack Simulations

Programming language is a sophisticated cyber-security tool that is useful for building attack imitations. This means that you can replicate an attacker’s mechanism and use it against them by employing the help of a high-level language like Python. Python has a simple syntax structure and the code is easily readable. You can also perform a number of functions such as scanning wireless networks, building intrusion detection systems, and accessing servers. 

They Are Used For Front-End Website Development

Imagine coding a paid website only to find that someone somewhere is accessing it without paying because they have found a way to break the code and bypass security.  As a cybersecurity professional or web developer, you have to be extremely careful while coding and make sure that the website you are building is impenetrable. Using programming languages like JavaScript, PHP and Python can help you stop unauthorized access and usage. Even at the back-end level of, for example, web application development, these programming languages, while being made up, have to be secure enough to counter malware and cross-site scripting(XSS) attacks.

They Come in Handy For Security Analysis.

Programming languages are used to detect, identify and solve system problems.  While analyzing the level of security on a computer program, cybersecurity experts can use programming languages like C and C++. Though they are low-level languages and may be quite difficult to master, they are very useful for finding security loopholes such as reverse engineering and programming errors. C and C++ give you direct access to critical components in the computer such as system processes and RAM. As these components are easy targets for hackers, the knowledge of C and C++ will enable you to effectively detect and cover all the loopholes that a hacker might leverage.

Programming is a strong aspect of cyber security and has really helped it to evolve to where it is today. Cyber security is essential because it helps to prevent your computer programs, applications, and operating system from malicious code that hackers can use to compromise your network and even disrupt your entire cyber operations.