As thousands and thousands of web applications are getting developed each day, the concern of cybersecurity gets higher. Cyberattacks are more common than ever now. So, ensuring that your web app stays secure is of utmost importance. Your web app does not just need a basic firewall to protect itself. Security starts from the application’s core, when it is in the design phase.

So how does one keep their web application fully secure? Read ahead as we tell you the best practices for developing secure web applications.

1. Keep a check during web application development

When your web application is in its design and development phase, it is easier to spot errors and fix them. This will help you save time as well as effort. A top web application company is aware of the SANS web application security checklist as well as OWASP Top 10 list. Developers can check all the issues that need to be avoided during coding with these checklists.

When the developers are aware of potential security issues like SQL injections, they will know how to fix them. You can also integrate security tools into your DevOps pipelines that will help you detect and eliminate errors easily

2. Input Validation

As per the experts, a good rule of thumb would be to consider all the inputs as hostile until it is proven otherwise. When you use input validation in web application development, any data that goes into your web app is proper. In turn, it helps prevent any possibility of corrupted data. There are several types of input validation:-

– Data type validation (keeps a check on parameters)

– Data Format Validation (keeps a check on data if it follows proper guidelines for schemas)

– Data Value Validation (makes sure that parameters meet the expectations for acceptable value ranges)

3. Data Encryption

Data encryption is one of the most commonly used web application development services to ensure app security. It is the process of encoding information to protect it from someone who has not been given the authorization to access it. We would suggest you to only use well-known encryption techniques instead of creating your own. If there are any loose ends, it is easier to hack.
The key is to ensure that data in all forms i.e. in transit as well as at rest has been encrypted as anything may contain sensitive information.

4. Regular Monitoring

Once the web application development is complete, it goes into the maintenance phase. This will involve monitoring your web apps constantly and testing them for vulnerabilities. To ensure web application security, developers can also use special tools that assess structured and unstructured data. When the data is properly evaluated, there will be no sensitive data exposed in your applications.

An effective way to monitor is also by performing security exercises. You can perform mock attacks and check whether your app stays secure. This will make sure that your web app is always prepared for any such attacks and no sensitive data is compromised.

While some businesses believe that it is only the role of a specialized team to ensure security, more people need to be aware. When people are aware of the possible threats, they can help eliminate them quickly as well.

5. Role Management

Role management simply means that every single person in the team must only have the right access at the right time. The role management practice is also called Identity and Access Management(IAM). The following is what can be implemented for web application security:-

– Principle of Least Privilege: This allows users to have minimal access to data. Only when the administrator allows it, can they have higher access.
– Privileged Access Management: These are tools that help monitor as well as restrict access to an organization’s most sensitive information.
– Password Management: This helps users save all their login information in an encrypted form.
– Multi-factor Authentication: This type of authentication is very commonly used. If a user wants to access anything, they must provide two or more verification factors.

Other than these, you can ask the users of your web apps to update their passwords regularly.

6. Implement Logging

Security threats may occur at any stage and at any time. The best way to make sure they are easily identified is to implement a logging system. There might be a bug that no one saw but it penetrated through the system. When it happens, logging will be your best friend. Logging tracks all the users’ actions and records when a suspicious activity happens.

7. Ensure that there is a proper framework

Cybersecurity can be a very complicated task for many and it is best to have a proper approach. The framework is usually built by companies to create a well-proven security strategy. In the framework, the first step is to research and analyze all the security threats that may occur. Then, a powerful threat response plan is laid out in case any of the threats may occur.
Usually, frameworks are also dependent upon the size of an organization. A web application development company will help you figure out the best strategy.

Cybersecurity must not be taken lightly and should be practiced at every step of development. Your web app might be built well, but if it is not secure, it could lead to worse circumstances. Web application security is a concern for many and you can always reach out to experts for that.

Feel free to reach out to us for more assistance on cybersecurity. Our team of highly trained professionals would love to help you out.