Why Web Application Security is Important

Security is a key consideration for any organisation with a digital presence. In an era of rising cyber crime, the risks to your business are considerable.

There are several consequences of a breach that illustrate vividly why web application security is important – and why you should ensure you have the most robust and up-to-date measures in place to protect you and your customers.

The main risks are as follows:

• A breach that leads to the loss of customer data. If your clients’ sensitive personal and financial information is accessed by hackers, it could have damaging legal consequences.

• Exposure of sensitive commercial information. Your company is likely to store online data that, if compromised, could seriously impact your performance.

• Financial loss through a breach. This could come in the form of ransomware, which could cost you dearly to address. Alternatively, hackers could gain access directly to your financial accounts and steal your money.

The most significant overall risk, however, is reputational. If customers learn that your security has been compromised, they are likely to be far less willing to trust you with their business in future.

It’s not a wild exaggeration to say that, in certain sectors where the security of personal and financial data is sacrosanct, a data breach could pose an existential threat to your business.

Types of Web Application Cyber Attack

Sadly, the list of ways in which a hacker can try to access and exploit your web app for their own purposes is extensive. Among the most common types of attacks are:

• SQL injection (SQLi): This describes a situation where a web app accepts input from a malicious user and opens the way for the hacker to access sensitive information. That can include lists of customer details – which the hacker can then steal or exploit.

• Cross-site scripting (XSS): This occurs when an attacker is able to insert malicious script into the code of your application. They can then access information, trick a user into revealing important data, and even impersonate that user.

• Distributed denial of service (DDoS): Criminals use multiple sources to overload a server with traffic. As the server becomes overwhelmed, it becomes unable to process legitimate users’ requests and ultimately denies services to them.

Security Measures for Web Apps

The list of ways in which your business might be targeted by cyber criminals may be long, and illustrates why web application security is important.

But there are several ways in which you can throw up an effective barrier to protect your web application and, by extension, you and your customers. These include firewalls, DDoS mitigation services and encryption certificate management.

Other measures that should be taken by a conscientious developer include:

• Strong authentication: Dual-factor authentication, strong passwords and access control options all make it more difficult for your system to be penetrated.

• Encryption: Using the very latest protocols to protect transactions from end to end presents a robust defence.

• Input validation: By blocking illicit data, the risk of injection attacks can be lessened.

Talk to Steadfast Collective About Your Web App Requirements

Steadfast Collective’s extensive experience in the development of web applications means that we understand fully the need for superlative security measures in your web application. We can incorporate these to ensure that you, your colleagues and your customers will enjoy peace of mind while interacting on your app.

Talk to us today to discuss in more detail why web application security is important – and how it can be applied to your digital projects.