WHITE PAPERS SPONSORED PROFILES JOB BOARD WEBINAR CENTER FREE SOFTWARE BZ RESEARCH ALMSHAREPOINT EVENTS CALENDAR PRINT/PDF EDITION PRINT/PDF BACK ISSUES

SUBSCRIBE TODAY CUSTOMER SERVICE EDITORIAL BEATS GUEST VIEW GUIDE SD TIMES 100 GUIDE EVENTS CALENDAR ADVERTISING ARTICLE REPRINTS REPORT A BUG SITE MAP

ABOUT US BZ MEDIA NEWS BZ RESEARCH NEWS ON MONDAY SPTECHREPORT SPTECHWEB SPTECHCON IPHONE/IPAD DEVCON ANDROID DEVCON PRIVACY POLICY CONTACT US

HOME >> OPINIONS

Are your Web apps safe?

By Geoff Perlman

June 1, 2011 — (Page 1 of 3)

Web applications are becoming increasingly popular, since the Web provides a convenient way to provide application functionality to just about anyone. The Web also provides significant security risks; the huge security breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network is just the latest example.

Because hackers can be anywhere and access any Web app, the possibility of damage has dramatically increased since the days prior to the Internet (or the “Cretaceous period” as some of us call it). Web developers must take extra measures to ensure their applications cannot easily be hacked.

Any computer on the Web is accessible to any other computer on the Web. This is terrifically convenient for legitimate users, but it also creates significant opportunities for hackers. The hacker can be anywhere, hopping from one proxy server to another prior to reaching your server, making it difficult to track him or her down afterwards.

How do you protect yourself and your Web app? Your first line of defense is the server upon which your Web application runs. The very fact that it’s connected to the Internet means it’s vulnerable. An Internet security expert I know told me the only way to truly secure a server is to unplug it. Since that’s not an option, you have to assume a hacker is going to get access to your server. What happens once they do?

Many Web applications are nothing more than a bunch of text files containing HTML, CSS, JavaScript or PHP. If they can gain access to your server, hackers can easily open these files... and change them. They might do something obvious such as place a graphic in the middle of one of your pages. That could be very embarrassing, but at least it would be easy to spot and fix. Or they might make a much subtler change such as changing the code. Customer credit card details, e-mails and other sensitive information could be compromised in a way not easily noticed.

Related Search Term(s): security

Pages 1 2 3

Share this link: http://sdt.bz/35599

Most Read Latest News Blog Resources

Android is the focus of two new design tools
Anywhere Software and Xamarin provide ways for developers to create and test their applications on PCs

LEADTOOLS HTML5 add-on modules released
Including New HTML5 Zero Footprint Viewer, JavaScript Libraries and RESTful Web Services for Document and Medical SDKs

How to speed up your Cukes
Using a five-step process derived from Six Sigma, Cucumber tests can go much faster

WhiteSource offers open-source license management as a service
Software gives companies insight into the open-source components in products

SmartBear rolls out new quality solution: API Complete
Software gives organizations ability to write test scripts and monitor APIs by bridging the DevOps divide

Android is the focus of two new design tools
Anywhere Software and Xamarin provide ways for developers to create and test their applications on PCs

WhiteSource offers open-source license management as a service
Software gives companies insight into the open-source components in products

Top five devices you can integrate with your applications
A five-fingered list of common, household items with which you can talk to (via software, of course)

Slick...but who needs it?
compilr.com is a well-designed site and the folks behind it seem to have their heart in the right place. But...who needs it?

How to be a better software developer
Want to be a better developer? You won't get there by mastering an interesting language or learning a new set of APIs.

Wooing Galatea
Do yourself a favor and check out Galatea 2.2, a wonderful book by novelist Richard Powers.

The world as story
An artificial-intelligence system at Carnegie Mellon seeks to understand the world by making statements about it.

Five SCM Best Practices Two-thirds of all software projects fail, according to the Standish Group’s CHAOS study. Improper usage of software configuration management...

Best Practices for Branching and Merging Patterns

Development teams often create a branching pattern, usually drawn out on a white board or in a Visio document, that is used as a model to...

Automated Error Reporting We invite you to read a short e-zine that tells you all about automated error reporting for .NET applications. This 8-page e-zine is packed...

The End of Application Redeploys Imagine that every time you wanted to write, send or receive an email, you needed to restart your computer. How much time would this take, a...

Technorati

Digg

Slashdot

Facebook

Friendfeed

Twitter

del.icio.us

Cigital Develops Ready-to-Use Tools for Securing the Smart Grid Cigital Inc. announced the release of the Guide to Developing a Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation Plan.

Department of Homeland Security lays down security suggestions Common Weakness Enumeration version 2.0 highlights flaws in software development practices

Metadata Security for SharePoint Adds Security Permissions Titus Metadata Security for SharePoint allows permissions to be assigned based on the recipient's Active Directory properties

Add comment

Name*
Email*
Country

Comment

Cigital Develops Ready-to-Use Tools for Securing the Smart Grid
Cigital Inc. announced the release of the Guide to Developing a Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation Plan Read More...

News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>

Download Current Issue
MAY 2012 PDF ISSUE

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Want to subscribe?

Slick...but who needs it?
compilr.com is a well-designed site and the folks behind it seem to have their heart in the right place. But...who needs it?
05/16/2012 12:45 PM EST

How to be a better software developer
Want to be a better developer? You won't get there by mastering an interesting language or learning a new set of APIs.
05/14/2012 12:18 PM EST

Wooing Galatea
Do yourself a favor and check out Galatea 2.2, a wonderful book by novelist Richard Powers.
05/12/2012 07:05 PM EST

The world as story
An artificial-intelligence system at Carnegie Mellon seeks to understand the world by making statements about it.
05/10/2012 06:39 AM EST

The Rise of the Brogrammer, or the Rise of the Sexist Programmer?
Women in Silicon Valley get vocal about sexist ads and campaigns that contribute to a tense work environment.
05/09/2012 03:14 PM EST

Retriever Communications Releases RADE3
Organizations concerned about the growing popularity of bring your own device to work policies may be comforted by the release of RADE3.
05/09/2012 11:46 AM EST