Unfortunately, in this day and age, website security is a big issue. Never before have there been such high risks of online attacks by hackers and cyber criminals. Yet, to some website owners, security is something that is not anywhere near the top of their list of priorities. This is a big mistake that could also prove to be very costly, both financially and in terms of reputation.
We’re now going to look at the ten most important website security concerns for website owners today as identified by OWASP, (Open Web Application Security Project.)
1. Injection Flaws
An injection flaw occurs when an interpreter receives untrusted data as part of a command or query. In this way a hacker can fool your web application into accessing unauthorized data or performing unauthorized commands. This could lead to them gaining access to and changing or corrupting your data. In this way, they can cause denying access and sometimes a full takeover of the host.
Once a hacker identifies an injection flaw, it’s very easy to exploit.
2. Cross Site Scripting
This is the most common website security risk. It occurs when an application uses untrusted data to send to a web browser without proper validation. Hackers can then execute scripts in the browser which in turn lets them hijack user sessions. Also, they can disrupt the website or direct users to malicious websites.
3. Incorrect Authentication and Session Management
If you don’t implement them correctly, a hacker could compromise passwords, tokens and keys and exploit other implementation flaws to take over a user’s identity. Once these flaws occur, a hacker potentially has full access to all user accounts.
4. Insecure Direct Object References
It happens when a developer exposes a reference to an internal implementation object. For example, when he exposes a directory or a file. If there is no access control check, then a hacker is able to find and use these references to access unauthorised data.
5. Cross Site Request Forgery
This sort of attack makes the user’s browser send a forged HTTP request, with the session cookie and any other included authentication information, to a vulnerable web application. The hacker is then able to submit requests via the user’s browser which the web app believes are genuine.
6. Security Misconfigurations
These may not be under your direct control. The issue is that they happen beyond your website application and the risks could stem from your website hosting configuration.
7. Insecure Cryptographic Storage
An especially important issue as it involves the protection of sensitive data like credit cards, authentication details and SSNs. Many web applications do not protect this data properly with encryption and hashing. As a result, it allows attackers to commit credit card fraud, identity theft and other cyber crimes.
8. Restricting URL Access
This is another security risk that often is not noticed. Every time protected links and buttons are accessed, web applications must check access rights. Otherwise attackers can forge URLs to get to the hidden pages.
9. Insufficient Transport Layer Protection
Applications should authenticate, encrypt and protect confidential and sensitive net traffic by using the correct algorithms and valid certificates. A failure to do this greatly compromises network security
10.Invalid Redirects and Page Forwards
This is when a web application redirects and forwards users to other pages or websites by using untrusted data to identify the correct landing age. This allows attackers to direct users to malicious sites.
