The Importance of Web Security
With web applications becoming the backbone of most business operations, and cyberattacks growing in frequency, sophistication and impact, effective web security is more critical than ever. It safeguards digital assets and site users from attacks that could lead to compromised data, expensive ransomware, compliance violations, loss of customer trust and reputational damage.
Modern web protections go beyond simple firewall and antivirus software. They are designed to stop sophisticated attacks that exploit web-based vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site contamination, XSS, credentials theft and distributed denial of service. They also sanitize incoming data, ensuring that usernames and passwords, POST request data, cookie information, URL parameters, DOM manipulation and user-uploaded files do not contain malicious code.
Preventative measures include web scanning, a technology that looks at each page of a website in detail and identifies any potential weaknesses. This is often performed by a dedicated web application firewall (WAF) or security scanner, or by combining multiple tools.
Other preventative tools and technologies include web content filtering, which inspects each incoming request for malicious or illegal activity. This is a vital component of web security, as it allows administrators to block certain types of requests before they even reach the web server. This prevents attackers from stealing sensitive data and also stops them from using websites to launch attacks on other systems, such as by installing a bot or malware.
Malware includes Trojans, worms, viruses and spyware, all of which are designed to steal or disrupt data or unauthorized access to computers or networks. These threats are typically delivered through phishing emails, and they can cause substantial damage in the form of ransomware, data deletion or network outages.
Web application control is another critical aspect of web security, as it ensures that only trusted web traffic gets to the website or its backend systems. This involves sanitizing all incoming data, including usernames and passwords, in addition to enforcing multi-factor authentication, rate limiting, password complexity rules and account lockout policies to mitigate the risk of hacking attempts and successful unauthorized logins.
A WAF or other web security solution’s location between the web user and the Internet gives it a deep level of visibility into application traffic, at the layer where most attacks occur. This granular visibility allows for the definition of security rules that can be applied to specific parts of the site, such as avoiding clickjacking by enforcing the
Finally, modern web protections monitor DNS activity for signs of hijacking or phishing attacks. They can also be set to respond to attacks in real-time, catching threats before they become serious problems. And they can provide automated patching, preventing the need for employees to manually update plugins or system software on their own. In the end, great strides in cloud and mobility technologies have enabled businesses to operate with greater flexibility and speed than ever before. But those same advances open new attack surfaces that hackers are exploiting to gain access to proprietary and confidential information.