Websites and web applications are just as prone to security breaches as physical homes, stores, and government locations. Unfortunately, cyber crime happens every day, and great web security measures are needed to protect websites and web applications from becoming compromised.

That’s exactly what web security does – it is a system of protection measures and protocols that can protect your website or web application from being hacked or entered by unauthorized personnel. This integral division of Information Security is vital to the protection of websites, web applications, and web services. Anything that is applied over the Internet should have some form of web security to protect it.

Details of Web Security

There are a lot of factors that go into web security and web protection. Any website or application that is secure is surely backed by different types of checkpoints and techniques for keeping it safe.

There are a variety of security standards that must be followed at all times, and these standards are implemented and highlighted by the OWASP. Most experienced web developers will follow the standards of the OWASP as well as keep a close eye on the Web Hacking Incident Database to see when, how, and why different people are hacking different websites and services.

Available Technology

There are different types of technologies available for maintaining the best security standards. Some popular technical solutions for testing, building, and preventing threats include:

• Black box testing tools
• Fuzzing tools
• White box testing tools
• Web application firewalls (WAF)
• Security or vulnerability scanners
• Password cracking tools

Likelihood of Threat

Your website or web application’s security depends on the level of protection tools that have been equipped and tested on it. There are a few major threats to security which are the most common ways in which a website or web application becomes hacked. Some of the top vulnerabilities for all web-based services include:

• SQL injection
• Password breach
• Cross-site scripting
• Data breach
• Remote file inclusion
• Code injection

Preventing these common threats is the key to making sure that your web-based service is practicing the best methods of security.

The Best Strategies

There are two big defense strategies that a developer can use to protect their website or web application. The two big methods are as follows:

• Resource assignment – By assigning all necessary resources to causes that are dedicated to alerting the developer about new security issues and threats, the developer can receive a constant and updated alert system that will help them detect and eradicate any threats before security is officially breached.
• Web scanning – There are several web scanning solutions already in existence that are available for purchase or download. These solutions, however, are only good for known vulnerability threats – seeking unknown threats can be much more complicated. This method can protect against many breaches, however, and is proven to keep websites safe in the long run.

Web security is extremely important, especially for websites or web applications that deal with confidential, private, or protected information. Security methods are evolving to match the different types of vulnerabilities that come into existence.