Web Application Security: Essential Guide

Security must be a priority from day one of development. In this article, we explore the main threats and how to protect yourself.

Main Vulnerabilities

1. SQL Injection Attacks that exploit malformed SQL queries to access or manipulate data.

**How to prevent:** - Use prepared statements/parameterized queries - Validate and sanitize all user inputs - Implement ORM with built-in protection

2. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Injection of malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users.

**How to prevent:** - Escape HTML output - Use Content Security Policy (CSP) - Validate input on the server side

3. Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Forcing authenticated users to perform unwanted actions.

**How to prevent:** - Implement CSRF tokens - Check Origin/Referer headers - Use SameSite cookies

4. Broken Authentication Failures in session management and authentication.

**How to prevent:** - Implement MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) - Use secure sessions with timeouts - Hash passwords with bcrypt or Argon2

Security Best Practices

HTTPS Always - Mandatory SSL/TLS certificate - Redirect HTTP to HTTPS - HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)

Security Headers - Content-Security-Policy - X-Content-Type-Options - X-Frame-Options - Referrer-Policy

Constant Updates - Keep dependencies updated - Monitor relevant CVEs - Apply security patches quickly

Testing Tools

• OWASP ZAP - Vulnerability scanner
• Burp Suite - Penetration testing
• Snyk - Dependency analysis

Conclusion

Security is not a feature; it is a requirement. At Johnny Software Development, we follow security best practices in every project, ensuring your system is protected from the start.