No Code Platform
A No-Code Platform is a software development environment that allows users to create applications, websites, and automated workflows without writing traditional programming code. Instead of using complex coding languages, these platforms provide visual, drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built components, and configurable templates. This "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) approach empowers "citizen developers" – individuals with little to no technical programming experience – to design, build, test, and deploy custom software solutions.
Key characteristics of no-code platforms include:
Visual Development: Users create applications by dragging and dropping pre-made modules, forms, buttons, and other elements onto a canvas.
Pre-built Components: They offer libraries of ready-to-use components and templates for standard functionalities, accelerating development.
Configuration over Coding: Logic functions, data connections, and workflows are defined through visual settings and configurations rather than written code.
Accessibility: They democratize software development, making it accessible to business users who understand their operational needs but lack coding skills.
Rapid Deployment: The visual nature and pre-built elements enable faster application development and deployment than traditional coding.
In the context of cybersecurity, no-code platforms present both opportunities and challenges:
Opportunities:
Security Automation and Orchestration (SOAR): No-code platforms are increasingly used to build security automation workflows. Security teams can use them to:
Automate tasks like threat alert triage, incident response playbooks, and vulnerability management.
Connect different security tools (SIEMs, EDRs, etc.) and orchestrate actions across them, improving response times.
Operationalize threat intelligence by automating the evaluation and actioning of emerging threats.
Increased Accessibility to Security Solutions: Non-technical security personnel can create custom dashboards, reporting tools, and simple applications to monitor security posture, track incidents, or manage access controls, without relying on developers. This "democratization" allows security teams to build solutions tailored to their specific needs quickly.
Faster Development of Security Tools: For internal use, security teams can rapidly prototype and deploy small applications to address immediate security concerns or streamline processes, without the overhead of a complete development cycle.
Improved Workflow Efficiency: No-code platforms can free security analysts to focus on more complex and strategic challenges by automating repetitive security tasks.
Challenges and Considerations for Cybersecurity:
Shadow IT and Unmanaged Applications: The ease of creating applications can lead to "shadow IT," where business units develop and deploy applications without the knowledge or oversight of the IT and security departments. If not properly secured, these unmanaged applications can introduce significant security risks.
Built-in Vulnerabilities: While no-code platforms are typically built with security, their applications can inherit vulnerabilities if the user misconfigures settings, uses insecure integrations, or doesn't follow security best practices.
Lack of Visibility and Control: Traditional security scanning tools designed for coded applications may not effectively identify vulnerabilities within no-code applications due to their proprietary logic and visual development. This can make it difficult to assess and manage risk.
Dependency on Platform Security: The security of the applications built on a no-code platform heavily depends on the platform's security. If the platform has vulnerabilities, all applications built on it could be at risk.
Complexity of Integrations: While no-code platforms offer integrations, complex integrations with other systems, especially legacy ones, might still require custom code or introduce security gaps if not handled carefully.
User Error and Misconfiguration: "Citizen developers" often lack formal cybersecurity training. This can lead to misconfigurations, overly permissive access controls, or the mishandling of sensitive data, creating security weaknesses.
Vendor Lock-in: Moving applications from one no-code platform to another can be challenging. This can lead to vendor lock-in and make switching harder if security concerns arise with the current platform.
No-code platforms offer a powerful way to accelerate application development and empower non-technical users, including those in cybersecurity. However, their use in a security context requires careful consideration of potential risks, strong governance, and the implementation of security best practices to ensure that the convenience of no-code development doesn't come at the expense of robust cybersecurity.
ThreatNG, as an all-in-one external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings solution, offers numerous capabilities that can be instrumental in securing environments that use no-code platforms.
1. External Discovery: ThreatNG's ability to perform purely external, unauthenticated discovery is crucial for no-code platforms. Many no-code applications are internet-facing and can be deployed rapidly, sometimes without complete security oversight. ThreatNG can autonomously discover these externally accessible no-code applications, associated domains, subdomains, and cloud resources without needing any connectors or internal access. This helps identify "shadow IT" applications built on no-code platforms that might otherwise go unnoticed, providing a comprehensive inventory of an organization's external digital footprint. For example, suppose a marketing team uses a no-code platform to launch a new campaign website quickly. In that case, ThreatNG can discover this site and its associated infrastructure even if it wasn't formally registered with the IT department.
2. External Assessment: ThreatNG provides a wide array of external assessments critical for understanding the security posture of no-code applications:
Web Application Hijack Susceptibility: No-code platforms often create web applications. ThreatNG analyzes these external web application components, including domain intelligence, to identify potential entry points for attackers. For instance, it can assess if a no-code e-commerce site is susceptible to a web application hijack due to exposed administrative interfaces or misconfigurations.
Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility: Many no-code applications use subdomains. ThreatNG evaluates the susceptibility of these subdomains to takeovers by analyzing DNS records, SSL certificate statuses, and other relevant factors. An example would be identifying a vulnerable subdomain used by a no-code project management tool that could be hijacked if its DNS records are misconfigured after a project's completion.
BEC & Phishing Susceptibility: No-code platforms can be used to create phishing sites or facilitate business email compromise. ThreatNG assesses this risk by examining domain intelligence (including domain name permutations and Web3 domains), email security presence, and dark web presence (for compromised credentials). This can help detect if a no-code platform is being used to host a look-alike domain for phishing attacks or if compromised credentials from a no-code platform's user base are circulating on the dark web.
Data Leak Susceptibility: No-code applications often handle data. ThreatNG identifies data leak susceptibility based on cloud and SaaS exposure, dark web presence (compromised credentials), and domain intelligence (DNS and email intelligence). For example, if a no-code customer feedback application inadvertently exposes a cloud storage bucket containing sensitive customer data, ThreatNG can identify this exposure.
Cyber Risk Exposure: ThreatNG's Domain Intelligence module covers parameters like certificates, subdomain headers, vulnerabilities, and sensitive ports to determine cyber risk exposure. For a no-code internal tool, this could mean identifying an exposed sensitive port that allows unauthorized access, or a misconfigured certificate on a no-code-built portal.
Code Secret Exposure: While no-code platforms aim to eliminate traditional coding, underlying configurations or integrated services might expose secrets. ThreatNG discovers code repositories and investigates their contents for sensitive data. If a no-code application integrates with an external API and an API key is inadvertently exposed in a public code repository used during its development or configuration, ThreatNG can detect this.
Cloud and SaaS Exposure: No-code platforms frequently rely on cloud services and SaaS solutions. ThreatNG evaluates an organization's cloud services and SaaS solutions, including discovering sanctioned and unsanctioned services, impersonations, and open exposed cloud buckets on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. It also covers specific SaaS implementations like Salesforce, Slack, Workday, Okta, and ServiceNow. This is highly relevant as no-code platforms often connect to these services. For example, ThreatNG can identify if a no-code application exposes an unsanctioned cloud storage bucket or if an organization's instance of a popular SaaS CRM (like Salesforce, which a no-code app might connect to) has an exposed configuration.
Breach & Ransomware Susceptibility: ThreatNG assesses this by analyzing exposed sensitive ports, exposed private IPs, known vulnerabilities, compromised credentials, and ransomware events/gang activity on the dark web. This helps understand the likelihood of a successful attack against no-code deployments. For instance, if a no-code application's underlying server has an exposed sensitive port or a known vulnerability, ThreatNG can highlight this as increasing ransomware susceptibility.
Mobile App Exposure: If a no-code platform is used to generate mobile applications, ThreatNG discovers these apps in marketplaces and investigates their contents for exposed access credentials (like AWS Access Key ID, API keys, Facebook Access Tokens, GitHub Access Tokens), security credentials (PGP private keys, RSA Private Keys), and platform-specific identifiers (like Amazon AWS S3 Bucket, Firebase). This helps identify if a no-code-built mobile app inadvertently contains hardcoded credentials.
3. Reporting: ThreatNG provides various reports, including Executive, Technical, Prioritized (High, Medium, Low, Informational), Security Ratings, Inventory, Ransomware Susceptibility, U.S. SEC Filings, and External GRC Assessment Mappings (e.g., PCI DSS). These reports are essential for communicating the no-code platform's usage security posture to stakeholders. For example, an executive report could summarize the overall risk introduced by shadow IT no-code applications. In contrast, a technical report would detail specific vulnerabilities in a no-code-built customer portal. The prioritized reports would help security teams focus on the most critical risks related to their no-code deployments.
4. Continuous Monitoring: ThreatNG continuously monitors external attack surface, digital risk, and security ratings for all organizations. Continuous monitoring is vital for no-code environments, where new applications can be deployed rapidly and configurations change frequently. It ensures that any new no-code applications or changes to existing ones are immediately assessed for new vulnerabilities or exposures. If a no-code application's cloud environment configuration changes, exposing a new port or service, continuous monitoring will quickly flag it.
5. Investigation Modules: ThreatNG's investigation modules provide deep insights into discovered assets, which are critical for understanding and remediating risks associated with no-code platforms:
Domain Intelligence: This includes Domain Overview, DNS Intelligence, Email Intelligence, WHOIS Intelligence, and Subdomain Intelligence. For no-code applications, this helps in understanding their digital presence, identifying domain record analysis (IP identification, vendors, and technology identification), potential domain name permutations for phishing, and email security presence. For example, if a no-code platform hosts a marketing landing page, Domain Intelligence can reveal its DNS configuration, associated technologies, and potential subdomain takeover susceptibilities. It can also identify admin pages, APIs, or development environments exposed by a no-code application.
IP Intelligence: Provides details on IPs, shared IPs, ASNs, and country locations. This helps map the infrastructure that supports no-code applications.
Certificate Intelligence: This focuses on TLS Certificates (status, issuers, active, certs without subdomains, subdomains without certificates) and associated organizations. It ensures that no-code applications use valid and properly configured certificates and prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Sensitive Code Exposure: No-code, configurations, and integrations can expose secrets. This module discovers public code repositories and uncovers digital risks such as exposed API keys, access tokens, cloud credentials (AWS Access Key ID), security credentials (cryptographic private keys), and configuration files (like application or system configuration files). This is crucial if developers use version control for configuration files related to no-code platform integrations. For instance, if an API key used by a no-code workflow to connect to a third-party service is accidentally pushed to a public GitHub repository, ThreatNG will identify it.
Mobile Application Discovery: As detailed in the external assessment, this module looks explicitly for credentials and identifiers within mobile apps.
Search Engine Exploitation: This helps identify if no-code applications expose sensitive information through search engines via misconfigured robots.txt or security.txt files, or if they have exposed errors, sensitive files, or user data. For example, if a search engine accidentally indexes a no-code internal knowledge base due to an oversight, exposing internal documents, ThreatNG can flag this.
Online Sharing Exposure: This capability checks for the presence of organizational entities within online code-sharing platforms like Pastebin or GitHub Gist. This is critical for no-code environments, as configuration snippets or sensitive data might inadvertently be shared on these platforms.
Archived Web Pages: This feature investigates archived web pages for sensitive information like API keys, emails, login pages, and directories. If a no-code application is publicly accessible and then taken down, but its content remains in an archive with exposed sensitive data, ThreatNG can detect this.
Dark Web Presence: This module checks for organizational mentions, associated ransomware events, and compromised credentials on the dark web. If credentials to access a no-code platform are found on the dark web, it indicates a significant risk.
Technology Stack: This provides insights into the technologies used by the organization, including databases, web servers, and security tools. Understanding the underlying technologies a no-code platform uses can help assess potential vulnerabilities.
6. Intelligence Repositories (DarCache): ThreatNG's continuously updated intelligence repositories provide vital context for securing no-code platforms:
Dark Web (DarCache Dark Web): Provides information on compromised credentials (DarCache Rupture) and ransomware groups and activities (DarCache Ransomware). This is crucial for identifying whether users' credentials for accessing or administering no-code platforms have been compromised.
Vulnerabilities (DarCache Vulnerability): Includes NVD (DarCache NVD) for technical characteristics and potential impact of vulnerabilities, EPSS (DarCache EPSS) for the likelihood of exploitation, and KEV (DarCache KEV) for actively exploited vulnerabilities. This intelligence helps prioritize remediation efforts on vulnerabilities affecting the underlying components or integrations of no-code platforms, even if the no-code application has no "code." It also links to Verified Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Exploits (DarCache eXploit), which helps security teams understand how a vulnerability can be exploited and develop mitigation strategies.
Mobile Apps (DarCache Mobile): This repository tracks access and security credentials found within mobile applications. This is directly relevant for organizations using no-code platforms to develop mobile applications.
Complementary Solutions and Synergies:
ThreatNG's capabilities can be significantly enhanced when used in conjunction with complementary solutions:
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) / Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) Platforms: ThreatNG's continuous monitoring and external assessment findings, particularly those related to newly discovered no-code applications or exposed sensitive data, can feed directly into a SIEM for centralized logging and correlation with internal security events. For example, if ThreatNG identifies a newly exposed no-code application with a critical vulnerability, this information can trigger an alert in the SIEM. A SOAR platform could then automate the incident response, such as initiating a vulnerability scan on the identified no-code application using a different tool, blocking the exposed port, or creating a ticket for manual investigation.
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Tools: While ThreatNG assesses cloud and SaaS exposure from an external perspective, CSPM tools focus on cloud environments' internal configuration and compliance. Synergistically, ThreatNG might identify an exposed cloud bucket used by a no-code application, and a CSPM tool could then provide the granular details of the misconfiguration within that cloud account, enabling faster and more precise remediation.
Vulnerability Management (VM) Solutions: ThreatNG's external vulnerability assessment and DarCache Vulnerability repository provide a broad view of external vulnerabilities. When a critical vulnerability is identified on an asset supporting a no-code application, a dedicated VM solution can perform deeper, authenticated scans to confirm the vulnerability and provide specific remediation steps, especially for internal network components or underlying operating systems that host no-code infrastructure.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Systems: ThreatNG's findings on compromised credentials from the Dark Web (DarCache Rupture) can be directly integrated with an organization's IAM system. Suppose ThreatNG discovers compromised credentials related to a user of a no-code platform. In that case, the IAM system can automatically force a password reset or temporarily disable the account, preventing unauthorized access to the no-code application or its data.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Solutions: ThreatNG identifies data leak susceptibility based on external exposure. A DLP solution, working internally, can prevent sensitive data from being exfiltrated from no-code applications or associated data stores, complementing ThreatNG's external detection. For instance, if ThreatNG flags potential data exposure from a no-code application, a DLP solution can be configured to block specific data types from being uploaded or shared through that application.
