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How To Keep Applications Secure

Web applications are now a vital part of how organizations are run and people are so used to using them every day. Individuals and companies can achieve more within a short time frame by using web applications.

They can be used to reach a much wider range of customers that weren’t possible before. While web applications come with a lot of benefits, they also come with a variety of security risks that you should be aware of.

This post covers some of the best ways you can keep your web applications secure to prevent hackers from gaining access to sensitive data.

Encrypt Data

Encrypting your data is one of the most effective ways you can prevent security issues. Encryption allows only authorized users to gain access to information. People who don’t have the necessary authorization won’t be able to see the data or use it.

This is a common method that companies and individuals use to keep their sensitive data safe. It helps to keep your information safeguarded from being attacked during transit which can give you peace of mind when you’re sending important data. Encryption also adds a layer of protection for data that’s static.

Web applications and servers that aren’t encrypted make it easier for cybercriminals to hack into your network. They’re always cultivating new methods of attack and encryption can be an effective tool against them.

Authentication

Organizations often implement multi-factor authentication processes for their users. This means that users must enter their username and password, followed by multiple other processes which they must get correct. Only once they’ve correctly completed all of the steps are they granted access to the application.

There are systems that cause users to be locked out of an account if they get passwords and usernames wrong too many times. In addition to this, password expirations can be put in place to ensure that users are changing their passwords frequently.

Many organizations take the approach of giving as few users as possible access to, especially sensitive data. This is to minimize the attack surface for hackers and ensure that they have a more difficult time gaining access to the network.

Misconfigurations

Misconfigurations can lead to a wide array of problems. There are many processes involved with creating and deploying applications and the chances for errors are high if you don’t have procedures in place.

Some of the common misconfigurations that developers make include using protocols that are out of date, using expired certificates, keeping too many ports within a server open, and keeping guest accounts active in servers.

These are issues that can provide hackers with an opportunity to gain access to your network. Therefore, companies must have protocols in place when it comes to developing and deploying applications to keep misconfigurations to a minimum.

Developers should have to go through some kind of approval process that ensures checks are carried out before moving onto the next stage of development. This helps to reduce the chances of errors causing problems later down the line.

Logging

Logging is a system that helps organizations be more effective at managing security problems when they occur. Proper logging provides you with details about what has happened as well as every action that took place in the lead-up to the event.

As a result, you can track where the issue stemmed from and be more effective at solving the problem.

Make sure that you use systems that allow you to store information while also being able to access it quickly. This is key for making sure that developers can detect the problem and apply the correct procedures to deal with it quickly before the issue gets more serious.

Being prepared for things to go wrong will put you in a better position to deal with problems as you won’t feel like it has completely caught you by surprise.

Testing

Testing is an incredibly important aspect of keeping your applications secure. There are many ways that companies approach testing through security automation, penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning.

Penetration testing is an effective method for protecting applications due to how it involves hiring an external company to purposefully hack into your system. They then provide you with detailed reports about vulnerabilities.

They may have gained access to your network through vulnerabilities that you didn’t even know existed. This is because they approach hacking into your system as though they’re a hacker themselves. As a result, they may find more intricate ways of exploiting your applications.

Carrying out regular scans and testing for vulnerabilities should be just as much of a priority as the development itself. When security and development go hand in hand, it leads to better results and fewer issues to deal with.

A process should be put in place when it comes to testing and scanning. This is because you want to create a repeatable process that developers can easily use. Furthermore, an inventory of where your open-source libraries are located is important.

This helps developers focus on testing and scanning open-source code quickly and efficiently.

Updates

In addition to regular testing and scanning applications, it’s also important to carry out regular updates. When applications are out of date, it can leave them more vulnerable to attacks.

Hackers have an easier time targeting out-of-date applications as they haven’t been updated with the latest patches. So, be sure to update regularly to avoid this issue altogether. You can even have updates carried out automatically to make the entire process as easy as possible.

Conclusion

So, that concludes our post about some of the best practices you can start implementing to keep your applications secure. Hackers will always be coming up with new ways to infiltrate applications and steal sensitive information.

However, you can make things a lot more difficult for them by using some of the security methods outlined above. Hopefully, the details found throughout our post have been useful in helping you to feel more assured about keeping your applications secure.

 

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