Originally, Base64 encoding was used to safely transfer email messages, including binary attachments, over the web. The name Base64 comes from the fact that each output character is represented in 6-bits, hence there are characters that can be represented… lower and upper case letters, numbers and the “+” and “/” signs. What is Base64?īase64 is an encoding mechanism used to represent and stream binary data over mediums limited to printable characters only. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into one of the simplest obfuscation techniques commonly used by web application attackers – Base64 – and uncover some of the traits making it so unique and interesting from the defender perspective. Alternatively, and as described in a recent spam campaign research we conducted, obfuscation of web application attacks can be as simple as importing common encoding schemes and re-encoding the attack payloads multiple times. Obfuscation of web application attacks can be extremely complicated, involving custom-made encoding schemes made by the attacker to suit a specific need. To cover their tracks and increase their attack success rate, hackers often obfuscate attacks using different techniques. These threats mostly stem from web application vulnerabilities, published daily by the vendors themselves or by third-party researchers, followed by vigilant attackers exploiting them.

Web application threats come in different shapes and sizes.

Does base64 encoding increase size