Tampering: Data and Code Integrity Threats

Tampering threats target the integrity of data or code within your system. These attacks modify information in unauthorized ways, potentially corrupting business data, altering application behavior, or undermining security controls. In an era of complex supply chains and interconnected systems, tampering threats have evolved from simple data modification to sophisticated attacks on entire software pipelines.

Data tampering can occur at multiple points in your system. Attackers might modify data in transit through man-in-the-middle attacks, alter stored data by compromising databases or file systems, manipulate data during processing through injection attacks, or corrupt backup data to prevent recovery. Each scenario requires different protective measures, from encryption and signing to access controls and integrity monitoring.

Code tampering presents particularly serious risks. Attackers might modify application binaries to include backdoors, alter configuration files to weaken security controls, inject malicious code through compromised dependencies, or manipulate infrastructure-as-code definitions to create persistent access. Supply chain attacks have demonstrated how tampering with development tools or dependencies can compromise thousands of downstream applications.

Protecting against tampering requires comprehensive integrity controls throughout your system. Cryptographic signing of code and critical data provides tamper detection. Immutable infrastructure patterns prevent runtime modifications. Version control with strong authentication tracks all changes. Runtime application self-protection (RASP) can detect and prevent tampering attempts. Regular integrity monitoring compares current state against known-good baselines. The key is implementing these controls at every level where tampering might occur.