A successful cyber-attack on a business’s website can be a huge blow to key digital assets and reputation. Organizations often ignore or forget this crucial aspect of online security. To help CIOs design appropriate security strategies, this article lists some of the critical web application security practices helpful to fend off most cyberattacks.
Web Application Security Best Practices For 2022
1. Deploy Robust Web Application Firewalls (WAFs)
A great way to help secure your web apps is to use a WAF. This handy application helps web applications block known malicious input strings outside the behaviors of a legitimate user, covering against common threats like cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, improper authentication, and CSRF attacks.
In some instances, a WAF can offer virtual patching against known CVE’s, consequently providing protection for unpatched vulnerabilities.
2. Apply Encryption to The Data
Applying data encryption is among the top recommended website security best practices. While security tools like WAFs can filter the incoming data traffic to web apps, they cannot secure the data generated from your network. That’s where one needs to implement data protection by applying robust encryption.
Applying simple protocols like TLS 1.2/1.3 can provide sufficient protection to the data in transit against threats like man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks.
Further to the above organizations should also choose to implement encryption to data stored on servers or storage drives. It involves applying robust encryption algorithms to data servers and using disk encryption tools to encrypt drives. The latter is specifically helpful in protecting data being handled by the firm’s employees.
3. Identify Potential Entry Points for Hackers
The next big thing in ensuring web application security is identifying the key areas through which malicious intrusions can occur.
Of course, no website or application is ever 100% secure as there is always a risk of zero-day exploits. Though to help combat this, businesses should use vulnerability scanners to ensure security analysts are able to detect and respond accordingly to incoming threat patterns.
Additionally, IT personnel can divide the infrastructure into different severity levels based on the components’ behavior. For instance, the customer-facing areas that deal with sensitive personal and financial data may be deemed critical. Likewise, sensitive data storage sites and all other non-sensitive components can be labeled as high to moderate severity modules. Classifying the structure in this way empowers the IT teams to focus on every aspect when conducting scans. In turn, it facilitates faster identification and remediation of issues.
4. Strengthen Security with Pen testing And Auditing
Continuing the above-discussed point, the next significant aspect of the web application security best practices is to implement regular security exercises, that include conducting vulnerability scans, security audits, and thorough pen testing of the web application and underlying network to detect and fix security bugs and weak endpoints. Such practices should be performed regularly to ensure web apps remain secure against emerging threats.
5. Train Your Staff
Finally, perhaps the most important security practice for web apps, databases, networks, and all other IT components is to train your staff to have a security-focused mindset.
Companies must conduct regular training and awareness session for the employees to help them recognize common cyber threats prevalent around them and how they should take steps to fend off those threats. The more employees (including the non-technical staff) realize the importance of cybersecurity, the better businesses can manage web app security.
Conclusion
Protecting your company’s web applications and underlying infrastructure requires dedication and vigilance from management to devise proactive security strategies focusing on critical areas.
Since it can be difficult for C-level personnel to focus on elementary aspects, businesses can choose to hire managed security service providers like Indusface. Such professional firms not only manage a client’s IT integrity but also help keep track of newly emerging security threats.
