In today’s world software is an integral part of almost every business. And this ultimately means that the developers have to have to work increasingly hard to keep up with the demand. As the web development world is coming into more demand with a faster delivery rate required, the work for web development grows. For example, these web developers have to build an application that can be adapted to any device, port on any platform, and be able to be integrated with other services. On top of this another aspect to be added is that they must all be able to withstand an increase in attacks.
The problem arises when the web developers are not able to keep up with it all. And when this happens the security aspect is the one that always tends to be overlooked. This may be because the web developers are not following some very basic security principles. With the massive use of the internet today we depend greatly on web design and development. And these developers and designers handle so much information that they easily become a target.
This article will cover these basic security principles that you must follow to safeguard your website and cover all your vulnerable spots.
- Know what you have to protect
A very important aspect every web developer should remember is that they should only store the data that is needed. It is always wise to ask yourself whether, if that data is compromised, then would it hurt your client or company. For instance, storing extremely sensitive data such as your customer’s address or bank account details is not necessary.
- Security testing should be implemented
With new and improved hacking techniques coming up every day, it is important to protect your web application’s security by doing the necessary security tests. What these security tests do is that it shows you how vulnerable your application can be and is able to see whether the data and resources of the application are protected from any kind of potential attack or not.
- Making sure your software is updated
Whenever a person is trying to gain any kind of access to your database, they will always try to use the path of least resistance. And in the case of a web application, this path is always found in outdated software or an insecure one. For this attack to be minimized it is important to always make sure your application is updated.
Another point of concern is that many companies have their software linked to their old systems which are not in use. It is very important that you should disable this unused software because if not done and left unchecked then it becomes a very easy pathway for any hacker to exploit.
- Encrypting user’s sensitive data
If it is absolutely vital that you have to store any sensitive information on your database, then make sure it is encrypted. If not done properly then this can very easily go south and land your company and you in trouble. Leaving sensitive data without any encryption is almost as good as leaving it out in plain sight for all to see. This becomes especially important when you’re in a large company or a shared hosting environment. This is because not everyone who has access to it can be trusted.
- Client-side and user server-side validation
Another crucial security feature to go over is to make sure both the client-side and the server-side of the platform have enhanced security. The client–side validation is useful in making sure mistakes such as entering data incorrectly or forgetting a particular field does not happen. On the other hand, the server-side validation is there to prevent any kind of malicious input, for example making sure no one puts their code into your database, from taking place.
- Usage of a VPN
A reliable and good VPN connection can help you in making sure your assets, as well as your client’s data, are well protected. Any hacker can easily plant malware or hack into your device once they obtain your IP address. This is seen as a big risk or vulnerable point for web developers as they have a lot of assets to protect such as applications, frameworks, custom designers, etc. Once a hacker gets their hands on this, it is easy to compromise its integrity. With the use of a good VPN, you can encrypt these assets.
- Sanitize user inputs
A simple step to keep in mind is that there must never be any kind of direct communication between the database and the user input. In order to enhance data integrity and prevent any attacks such as a SQL injection, you must first sanitize and validate it.
- Applying the principle of least privileges
Another important point to keep in mind is that it is not always the external attacker that poses the biggest threat. Sometimes it can also be an end-user who is ill-informed, with many system privileges. By making sure to reduce your user privileges you are minimizing this risk factor. It is a good idea to give them only as much access as they need and not more. This eliminates the risk of any abuse by an unqualified user. Also, this protects the unprivileged users from taking any blame if there is ever a breach.
