As the complexity and functions of websites increases, the chance of security flaws existing in a website’s infrastructure also increases. Nowadays, a website intrusion could mean loss of data, contaminated data, and loss of visitors/sales. As the number of internet consumers rises, it is imperative that we not only keep the web site data secure, but also the user data.
So just how do websites become compromised? The list below, created by the Open Web Application Security Project, shows the top 10 security risks facing web apps today (OWASP Foundation, 2012) .
- Injection
- Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
- Broken Authentication and Session Management
- Insecure Direct and Session Management
- Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
- Security Misconfiguration
- Cryptographic Storage
- Failure to Restrict URL Access
- Insufficient Transport Layer Protection
- Invalidated Redirects and Forwards
Throughout this semester, it is my goal to learn about the above exploits (and more) and to not only understand how they occur, but also how to prevent it from occurring. To me, the best way to learn about this is through actual practice.
OWASP Foundation. (2012, April 27). Top 10 2010-Main. Retrieved January 18, 2012, from OWASP: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Top_10_2010-Main
