Security in web development is an integral aspect of any successful project. In addition to the safety of confidential user data, the stability of the web service and the company’s reputation depend on the security of the system. Today, in the era of digital economy, ignoring security issues can be a critical mistake for a growing business.
Some of the most common threats in web development are:
SQL injections (hacks through injecting malicious SQL commands into database queries). SQL attacks can lead to unauthorized access, modification or deletion of information. Defense against SQL is an important aspect of web development security. There are various strategies and techniques that help to protect web applications from such attacks:
Prepared and parameterized queries: Using prepared or parameterized queries is one of the most effective ways to protect against SQL injection;
Special Character Shielding: an approach in which all special characters used in SQL (e.g., quotes) are replaced with their safe equivalents;
Privilege limitation: assigning database users only the privileges they actually need to perform their tasks;
Using web application gateways or firewalls (WAFs): detect and block SQL injections by analyzing incoming traffic;
Penetration testing and regular security audits: regularly testing web applications for vulnerabilities.
Cross-site scripting (XSS attack) is one of the most common security threats in web development. Attackers inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
Malicious scripts are often passed through input forms on websites that have XSS vulnerabilities (which do not filter or do not effectively filter user input). When other users view these pages, their browsers execute the malicious scripts. Depending on the nature of the attack and web application security measures, XSS injections can be categorized into three main types: Stored, Reflected, and DOM-based.
Stored XSS attacks occur when a malicious script is stored on the server and sent to every user who views a page. They are the most dangerous because they affect a large number of users.
Reflected XSS attacks are embedded in the URL and are activated when the URL is opened. These attacks usually occur when an attacker entices the victim to open a specially crafted URL, such as sending a link via email or message.
DOM-based XSS attacks occur when a malicious script modifies the DOM (Document Object Model) structure of a web page, resulting in the execution of malicious code.
To protect against XSS, it is important to use secure development techniques including filtering, shielding user input, utilizing Content Security Policy (CSP) and other security technologies.
Session hijacking (or session hijacking) is a type of attack in which an attacker intercepts and uses a user’s session to perform unauthorized actions. This attack is often used to bypass the authentication process and gain unauthorized access to web services. Network eavesdropping and cross-site scripting (XSS) are the main session hijacking techniques.
Defenses against interception include the following measures:
- Using secure data transfer protocols (e.g., HTTPS) that encrypt session data and prevent its interception;
- Limiting the lifetime of sessions and session tokens to reduce the amount of time an attacker can use an intercepted session token;
- Using server-side security measures, such as validating a user’s IP address to ensure that the session token is being used by the same user to whom it was originally issued;
- Regularly updating and testing web applications to detect and fix vulnerabilities that could be used to hijack a session.
- CSRF attack (Cross-Site Request Forgery) – Attacks in which an attacker forces a victim to perform an unwanted action on a site to which they are authenticated.
CSRF validation (CSRF defense) – a set of measures used to prevent this type of attack. One common defense is the use of a CSRF token, a unique and random number that is generated for each user session. When a user submits a request to perform an action, the server checks if the CSRF token in the request matches the token stored in the session. If the tokens do not match, the server rejects the request.
A CSRF validation error usually means that the CSRF token validation failed: the token is missing from the request or does not match the token in the session. This can happen if a user tries to submit a form with an expired token, or if an attacker tries to perform a CSRF attack.