Drupal and apache web site security checklist
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Website Security Issues - An Overview
An unfortunate fact is that there are lots of ways in which web site security can be adversely affected. For example, security hazards are ever present which might have an effect on Web servers and LANs (local area networks) where Web sites reside, even by the natural use of a Web browser.
Web Masters face the flak when coping with the major challenges. As soon as a Web server is set up at a site, a window materialises in the local area network through which anyone on the Internet can peep. Naturally, on the whole website visitors look at no more than what they're meant to see, but some of them make an effort to locate elements of the site which are not supposed to be detectable by the world. Iniquitous visitors mean to do other than simply look; they make an effort to undo the window and sneak in. The harm they can inflict might be sheer vandalism, such as changing the web site's home page with their own that might say or show anything at all, or it could be burglary, such as stealing a contacts or orders database.
It's hard to escape the likelihood that intricate computer software includes bugs. Regardless of how thoroughly it is tested, there will be more often than not some order of events or user actions, while it might arise once in a blue moon, which creates a failure. Computer software bugs cause holes in system security. A Web server is complicated software which can quite possibly contain a security opening.
It's not just the complexity of a Web server that may create a problem, but also its open architecture. Think about a CGI script as an example. A CGI script may be executed at the server in reply to a remote request from a client. This could be a request from an application or even the click of a button in a browser. If the CGI script has a bug, there could be a possibility of a security violation.
Network Administrators also have to handle problems from Web servers owing to the risk they pose to the security of the local area network. Though there must be no unauthorised incursions, admittance has to be granted to web site visitors. This means that access to the network has to be controlled. The Administrator therefore has to perform a delicate balancing act. Even the most sturdy firewall can be compromised if the Web server is configured poorly. Bearing that in mind, normal use of the web site can be unachievable if the firewall is configured poorly. Attaining a perfect answer is even more tricky if an intranet forms an element of the system. Usually, the Web server in that case has to be configured to distinguish and validate domains and user groups, which are apt to have varying permission levels and access rights.
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The majority of people using a browser to surf the Net think that they're doing it in secret and in safety. This is not correct. Web browsers are able to execute autonomous software on the local machine which are hosted by a web site. Current browsers display a notice and request authorisation to run such programs. Well-known commonly as "active content", e.g., ActiveX controls or Java applets, these programs, if malicious, can easily inject a virus or other hazardous software on the browser user's computer. As soon as it's in the system it can cause all kinds of catastrophe and may be very tricky to eliminate.
This is also a worry for Network Administrators. Web browsers make available a way for possibly malicious software to filter all the way through the local area network's firewall. After it is in the system, the harm it may inflict can vary from covertly appropriating sensitive data to gratuitous carnage.
Apart from the issues in re active content, merely browsing the Internet records a trail of the user's activities in the browser's history. This may be utilized by web sites and installed software programs to establish a precise report of the user's behavior and preferences. Although this may be thought of as an invasion of privacy by some, it can be beneficial by offering germane content immediately, so unburdening the user of the job of searching for it.
Confidentiality is a matter which concerns not only browser users but also Web Masters and Network Administrators during the actual transmission of data via the Net. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the fundamental language of communication for the Internet. When it was created, security wasn't the principal factor of its blueprint. Both network and Internet transmissions should therefore not be considered as essentially private. Any time the browser on a local PC downloads a confidential document from the remote Web server, or the browser user fills out a form with confidential information and clicks the 'Submit' button, the transmitted data could be intercepted without consent.
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