Original artwork, not a still
Randall Munroe
Oh, yes. Little Bobby Tables, we call him.
— xkcd · 2005
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
'Little Bobby Tables' has become the standard shorthand for SQL injection, the attack in which carelessly handled input is run as code. Programmers invoke him in code reviews, security talks and documentation as a standing example of why input must be sanitised.
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In context
Spoilers for xkcdShow the scene
In xkcd #327, 'Exploits of a Mom', published in October 2007, a school phone call about computer trouble leads to a question: did she really name her son Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;--? Mrs. Roberts answers with this line. The school's system reads the full name into its database without sanitising it, deleting the Students table. Her advice is to sanitise database inputs in future. Explain xkcd notes the comic as a prequel to the 1337 series.
Sources (1)
- 327: Exploits of a Mom, explain xkcdcomic explanationReference checked
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