What is the term for the unauthorized modification of data within a database by exploiting vulnerabilities in an application's software?

Different cyberattacks target different weaknesses. Ransomware encrypts a victim's files and demands payment; spoofing disguises the identity of a sender or device to deceive a target; phishing tricks a user into giving up personal information, usually through a fake message or website. None of these three works by directly attacking the code behind a database application.

The attack that specifically exploits weaknesses in an application's software to change data inside a database is SQL injection. It happens when an attacker inserts malicious structured query language (SQL) code into an input field, such as a login box or search bar, that the application then runs against its database without properly checking it first. If the application does not validate or sanitise that input, the injected code can read, alter, or delete data it was never meant to touch.

The key exam distinction is that SQL injection targets the application's own code and its database queries, while phishing and spoofing target the human user, and ransomware targets stored files rather than live database records.