• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Subscribe
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
IT Infrastructure, Network Security, News

NSA: Switch to ‘Memory-Safe’ Programming Languages

The NSA is urging organizations to drop some commonly used programming languages such as C and C++ due to exploitable memory-based bugs.

November 11, 2022 Zachary Comeau Leave a Comment

NSA Programming Languages
Traytoiv/Stock.Adobe.com

In a new report, the National Security Agency urges organizations to drop some commonly used programming languages such as C and C++ due to programmer error leading to exploitable memory-based vulnerabilities.

The agency’s guidance, “Software Memory Safety” Cybersecurity Information Sheet, highlights how malicious cyber actors exploit poor memory management issues to access sensitive information and use to execute unauthorized code and wreak havoc on the software supply chain.

Neal Ziring, the agency’s cybersecurity technical director, says in a press release that these memory management issues have been exploited for decades and are still far too common.

“We have to consistently use memory safe languages and other protections when developing software to eliminate these weaknesses from malicious cyber actors,” Ziring says.

According to the NSA, Microsoft and Google have each said that software memory safety issues are behind about 70% of their vulnerabilities, and memory management issues can also lead to technical and performance issues.

To help prevent those problems, NSA recommends that organizations use “memory safe” languages and bolster protection through code-hardening defenses.

“While the use of added protections to nonmemory safe languages and the use of memory safe languages do not provide absolute protection against exploitable memory issues, they do provide considerable protection,” the agency’s report says. “Therefore, the overarching software community across the private sector, academia, and the U.S. Government have begun initiatives to drive the culture of software development towards utilizing memory safe languages.

According to the agency, those “memory safe” languages include C#, Go, Java, Ruby, Rust and Swift. These can help prevent programmers from introducing certain types of memory-related issues since memory is managed as part of the language and doesn’t rely on the programmer adding code to implement protections.

In addition, the NSA says memory safe languages provide differing degrees of memory usage protections, so available code hardening defenses, such as compiler options, tool analysis, and operating system configurations, should be used for their protections as well.

“By using memory safe languages and available code hardening defenses, many memory vulnerabilities can be prevented, mitigated, or made very difficult for cyber actors to exploit,” the agency says in the guide.

Tagged With: NSA, Programming

Related Content:

  • Microsoft Loop IT What You Need to Know About Microsoft Loop
  • YAMAHA UC ADECIA Yealink Yamaha UC Partners With Yealink for Audio &…
  • Microsoft, ChatGPT, GPT-4, GPT-3.5 What’s New With ChatGPT and Generative AI This…
  • CISA Ransomware CISA Wants You To Report Anything You Know…

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • Four IT Trends That Will Define 2023Expert Series: Four IT Trends That Will Define 2023

    Learn about four key technologies we identified as critical to your IT organization’s success in 2023, as well as how to invest in new innovations emerging from each.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the FREE Tech Decisions eNewsletter

Sign up Today!

Latest Downloads

Four IT Trends That Will Define 2023
Expert Series: Four IT Trends That Will Define 2023

Learn about four key technologies we identified as critical to your IT organization’s success in 2023, as well as how to invest in new innovations ...

Harnessing the Power of Digital Signage
Harnessing the Power of Digital Signage

Choosing the best solutions for messaging, branding, and communicating in today’s content-everywhere landscape

Blueprint Series Cover: What works for hybrid work
Blueprint Series: What Works for Hybrid Work

Download this free resource to learn about how IT leaders can effectively manage and implement a hybrid work model.

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!
Sharp Microsoft Collaboration HQ Logo

Learn More About the
Windows Collaboration Display

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Media Solutions & Advertising
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2023 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.