With the advancement in cybercrime and Internet atrocities, it has become more than necessary to develop the best practices for developing secure web applications. The more we take to the Internet for each of our needs – be it online shopping, taking examinations, connecting with our friends and family, the world has no doubt become a smaller place. But each of these comes at a price. The price of security and safety. How far can we go on to pace with the internet boom while still dealing with the cybercrime issues at hand?
It is widely recommended to gear up with the requisite amenities before it is too late. It would become too seamless for us to get duped and not even notice that our precious information has already been hacked. According to a report by Statista, India alone has seen a stiff surge in the country’s cybercrime rates since the past decade. In the screengrab here, you can see how the numbers quadrupled from 966 to 27,248 in just a matter of 8 years! This alarming rate shows us that we must know the dos and don’ts before the timer buzzes out. On that note, here are the top ten practices that you can deploy to secure your web applications in no time. Let us get into that in detail.
- Keep an inventory tab of your web applications
- Say Yes to Proper Exception Management
- Refrain from Security Misconfigurations
- Implement Code Signing
- Prioritize Security during Web App Development
- Use Arduous Quality Assurance and Testing, Always
- Securely use your Cookies
- Pay Heed to Real-Time Monitoring
- Train and Educate your Employees
- Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Keep an inventory tab of your web applications.
Even though you might carry the impression that you are a part of a duly organized company, there are still slim chances of missing out on some of the applications that it relies on daily. It is also possible that there could be many applications running simultaneously with you not knowing about it. These rogue applications can go unnoticed and can then cause trouble later on.
That is when the first thing first in developing a secure web application is to accurately know which applications run on your computer and which should not. On that note, try to take an inventory tab of how many applications they have and their locations. Although it might consume a little extra time of your schedule, this will ensure that you keep this handy and steer clear of the menace that might draw in otherwise.
Say Yes to Proper Exception Management
One of the best practices for developing secure web applications is by using exception management. Just in case of an unlikely failure, you would never want to put forth a message more than a general error disclaimer. Using the actual system message will not bring any good to the visitor and ring the potential hackers’ alarm bells. More often, in the case of an error, try to reject the operation as much as possible.
That is because an application that does not succeed securely will disallow the operations from inadvertently getting permitted. Let us take an example here; if an ATM fails to provide money, it will preferably display a friendly message to the user, which is simple to understand and not spill some random notes on the ground. (Well, how lucky would that be, won’t it?)
Refrain from Security Misconfigurations
Considering the limitless number of opportunities that the web server management software renders these days, it also paves the way for many other ways to take things down the spiral. Not deleting the unused files or the random guest accounts from the server or using the outdated security level protocols are some of these ways. Or, allowing some of the digital certificates to expire and sit on your system and having unnecessary ports open on your web server can also invite trouble.
On that note, having a well-established document for setting up the new sites and the web servers will tend to work in your favor. The modular aspect of the web server facets permits you to gain more control over the security and the resources side. That is why you need to be very cautious if you are not making your applications as secure as soon as you can.
Implement Code Signing
To give your applications and software the best protection, get yourselves one of those Code Signing Certificates. This certificate is crucially vital to the integrity of the software distribution. Also, a digitally signed certificate is an excellent security-enabling solution for application developers and software publishers. Further, this lets them add these signatures onto their scripts and executables as and when required. It is an indicator that the plug-ins and other executable files arrive from a reliable publisher.
The second you implement code signing, you negate the unknown publisher warning alert and build a considerable volume of trust for your users. This will affect your user’s adoption rate and the number of software downloads positively. And who knows, if done correctly, you will be able to extend your market reach as well and give your return of investments a notch up. Get your most preferred option from SSL2BUY today itself.
Prioritize Security during Web App Development
Before you begin to delve into all the best practices for developing secure web applications, you must know some rudimentary security protocols before hiring a team and going all expansive. To start with, implement all the HTTP traffic to the HTTPS one. Try to steer away from the third-party agencies at all costs and enable the public key pins.
Use an updated version of TLS, as it will always add an extra layer of security on your site and pages. And finally, it goes without saying, use a solid and robust password. Note that passwords are the window to your systems; therefore, deploy a cautious combination of numbers, signs, and numerals to bring out an un-hackable password. Aside from this, try to implement a content security policy as and when required by your company.
Use Arduous Quality Assurance and Testing, Always
If you happen to have a situation in which using a third-party service specializing in quality assurance and testing, that is a great thing to have. Most of these services are nominal. On that note, relying on those services might not be all if you wish for the best. Also, these in-house quality assurance processes might not be able to cover every tiny hole in each of the web applications you are using.
That is when you need to have a well-planned procedure that is easy to replicate and fix these issues at once. As per the PCI guidelines, your web applications must be free of any of the vulnerabilities that do not abide by the given norms. To be genuinely sure of this, go ahead and get yourself one of those servers that specialize in these facets, and then only you will see the things in place.
Securely use your Cookies.
This accounts to be another excellent practice for developing secured web applications, the precise usage of cookies. This is something that most of the companies ignore, thinking that it is not that critical. It is essential when it comes to securing web applications. The thing with cookies is that they add seamlessness for the businesses. They permit the visitors to be remembered by the sites they browse so that their subsequent visits would become faster and more personalized.
To begin with, refrain from using cookies that store highly personal or confidential information. Try to be conservative when it comes to setting the expiration dates for the cookies and when that is needed. Once you do that, consider encrypting the stored data in the cookies you have already used. Keep these small things in mind, as they are beneficial in the future.
Pay Heed to Real-Time Monitoring
It might take up to six months for a company to know that its security concerns have been breached, even if it is a big one. Suppose you are one of those companies where you live on the consumers’ trust and save a ton of information, whether personal or confidential. In that case, it is more than necessary to find the security breaches, if any, and kick them off as fast as you can. The sooner, the better.
For deploying the seeds of real-time monitoring, see that you install monitoring software that scrutinizes your employee’s actions. That way, you can also ensure that all security requirements are met before it is too late. According to a Chief Executive report, 90% of security breaches occur due to human error alone. If you do not wish to fall prey to such a situation, start paying heed to real-time monitoring quickly.
Train and Educate your Employees
It all simmers down into nothingness if your employees leak out the keys to your confidentiality. As we just spoke about human error, you must know that it is common to see places where most of the data breaches occur due to one of the employees’ mistakes. Also, it is easy to lose track of what your employees do if you are a big company with a zillion workforce. That is why it is of high pertinence that you monitor your employees.
And educate and train them on how to best use software securely. Teach them about data infringement and how a silly error can cost the company millions. If possible, draft a standard security protocol that they can use to control and track their actions. If your employee is new and is not aware of the dos and don’ts, take time to train them perfectly with the requisite knowledge. Do provide them the much-needed resources as and when they are required.
Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Even though you take all the precautions, there stands a chance where a data breach might take place, despite all the precautions. God forbid that kind of a case, but then again, you must back yourself up with a plan B, under every cost. When you do not prepare yourself for the worst, you will see a significant loss in time, money, and resources. If things do not revive well, there can be a considerable loss of trust from both your customers and your employees.
To make your responses more streamlined and stringent, try identifying some of the best management tools in your arena. If possible, do a backup with incident response platforms or authentication technologies. These will ensure that you are gearing up for the worst scenarios. Additionally, if the need for security data and event managing tools arises, take no backseat on that. Whatever it may be, you must be well-prepared to face it.
That’s a Wrap
Note that ten of these practices are just an additional layer of security for our web applications. With that, you must have the basic knowledge of ascertaining which of these are helpful to you and which are not. These days, web applications are a vital facet of business and our everyday lives too. As and when you use web applications, you can simplify things better and get more value from a limited number of resources. The businesses no longer need a house full of organized paperwork anymore, with this being by their side.
Because we are delving into so many web applications for an eclectic range of things, significant amounts of sensitive information are being swirled around multiple social channels; it is needed to know how to keep a tab on the security and the safety aspect. When done right, I hope these ten practices will help you get to the pinnacle of success at a faster rate. So, cancel the wait, and secure your web applications today itself.
