Slide 1

macOS Mammoth

key steps to prevent data breaches and unauthorized access in a WebApp

Introduction

When interacting with someone, the information you reveal often depends on how much you trust them. You’re naturally careful around people who run their mouths whenever they talk to someone, and you’re cautious towards brands that can’t protect your data.

Even if someone gets tricked into working with these WebApp, they’ll think twice before giving them another go once their information leaks. More importantly, they’ll spread the word, warning anyone else from doing so. 

Sure, the hazards of low WebApp security are:

  • Data breaches
  • Cross-site scripting
  • SQL injections
  • Session hijacking
  • Insecure file uploads

And many others…

However, the natural hazard for the organization is a ruined reputation, fines, and lawsuits that they may face.

So, you must improve your WebApp security, but where do you start? How do you safeguard user privacy and prevent unauthorized access? Here are a few ways you can handle all of this with ease. 

WebApp user privacy protection

1. Using a fraud prevention program

You can achieve so much using your platform’s fraud prevention program, like DataDome. First, identity verification gets extra steps that automatically improve the app’s security.

Next, a specialized algorithm tracks user behavior and conducts an elaborate behavioral analysis. With the help of AI-powered tools and volumes upon volumes of data, behavioral pattern recognition becomes incredibly sophisticated. While the idea of getting flagged because you scroll too fast may sound scary, this is not how it works in practice. The deviation needs to be significant enough for these red flags to activate. 

Geolocational tracking also helps with security for several reasons. First, suppose the user registers from a country they’ve never been to before (and they don’t have a history of browsing via VPN). In that case, it might be a reason for an alarm and activate an additional authentication requirement. Also, some regions of the world are seen as “riskier” than others. A request from one of these countries might raise additional alarms.

Most people access their accounts from the same devices (their smartphone, laptop, or work computer). Access from a new device is not a definitive problem but a strong indicator of a potential threat. These programs handle device fingerprinting, which elevates security to a new level. 

2. Abiding by GDPR or CCPA compliance

Your audience is one of many parties that you’re trying to convince. In reality, you must convince government bodies of your security; otherwise, you won’t get a license to run as an organization. Depending on your location, jurisdiction, and even the markets you interact with, you may have to pass a GDPR and CCPA compliance. 

You see, GDPR is a regulation that applies to the EU, while the CCPA is a California-based privacy act; however, your site/organization will need it even if you’re not from these two areas. As long as your traffic or customers are from the EU or California, these regulations apply to your business. Remember that these two aren’t the only regions and compliances you’re facing. 

Remember that these are some of the world’s biggest marketplaces with densely-populated, affluent demographics. In other words, you want to stay in on the action, and if the only legal way to do so is to stay compliant with this regulation/act, then so be it. 

The key thing to understand is that your audience wants to trust you. To do so, they would have to invest time and risk interacting with you to see if you’re trustworthy. Otherwise, they would have to do research, which is time-consuming. This is why they prefer someone else to do the research instead. So, when you become GDPR and CCPA compliant, they can hang by a thread that you’ve passed a particular set of criteria.

3. Improved session management

A session is a temporary interaction between a user and a web application. Usually, it starts when they log in or enter the application. The duration of sessions is an essential metric for your app performance, but from the standpoint of WebApp security, it can be far more critical.

The first thing you need to do is convince your audience to start using cookies. This cookie will be instrumental in ensuring their subsequent security. For instance:

  • You can create a unique session ID and store it on the cookie on their browser.
  • You can use the HttpOnly flag for cookies. This way, you reduce the risks of XSS attacks.

Most importantly, you want to set up a session timeout. This is widely used with banking and payment apps but is not as expected/frequent as regular apps. This way, an attacker won’t have enough time to hijack a valid session. This is also a great security measure regarding the security of a physical device (using a public computer after you or stealing your unlocked phone). 

It would help if you allowed your users to log out properly without too many extra steps. You also want to offer them to log out when they leave (minimize) the app. This way, you’ll have a chance to reduce session fixation attacks. These are instances where the hijacker tries to force the user to log in with a pre-set session ID, thus flying under the radar and avoiding being noticed. 

Some organizations believe they’re taking the easy way by storing session data in URLs. This idea is horrible because it can be dug out through browser history or shared links. The best way to stay safe is to avoid this method. 

4. Stopping cross-site scripting (XSS)

Sometimes, a malicious third party inserts a malicious script into web pages other users write. This happens when a web application fails to validate and sanitize input properly. This way, the hijacker can execute a code in the victim’s browser, compromising their next session. Most of the time, this either:

  • Steals personal data
  • Shows false information

This XSS can be either persistent or non-persistent; this means it will be permanently on the web application’s server or reflected after it does its job.

There are many practices that you can use to prevent XSS attacks. 

For instance, you can input validation and sanitization (something we’ve already addressed). This process will check any user input to prevent the injection of this malicious code. You can also allow a specific input type if you want extra effort. This limits the user but makes your job a lot easier. 

One of the biggest problems with user input happens when WebApp treats it as an executable code rather than data. The solution to this problem is simple – introducing the output encoding. This way, dynamic content will be encoded before it’s displayed in HTML responses and will always be treated as data. 

5.Your web app needs to be safe for use

It takes a lot of effort to craft a decent WebApp and even more to keep it safe. On the other hand, it takes a single slip to lose all of that and ruin your reputation. You can quickly improve your trustworthiness by insisting on better authentication and authorization, abiding by compliances, and improving session management. Add regular security testing to this process, and you’ll already do much.

By Srdjan Gombar

Veteran content writer, published author, and amateur boxer. Srdjan is a Bachelor of Arts in English Language & Literature passionate about technology, pop culture, and self-improvement. His free time he spends reading, watching movies, and playing Super Mario Bros. with his son.

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