Free website security templates

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Evaluation of Web Site Security Considerations



An unfortunate fact is that there are various ways in which website security can be compromised. Security hazards are ever present which impinge on Web servers and LANs (local area networks) on which Websites reside, even by the routine use of a Web browser.

Web Masters come under fire when dealing with the most acute challenges. As soon as a Web server is installed at a site, a porthole is constructed in the local area network through which anyone on the Internet can peek. Certainly, nearly all website visitors look at no more than what they're supposed to see, but a few try to discover elements of the site that are not intended to be visible to all and sundry. Dishonest visitors intend to do more than just look; they try to unfasten the window and sneak inside. The damage they could cause might be mere vandalism, like substituting the web site's home page with their own which might say or display anything at all, or it might be robbery, such as gaining possession of a contacts or sales list.

It is hard to escape the virtual certainty that complicated computer software includes bugs. No matter how meticulously it is tested, you can find usually a particular order of events or user actions, though it might be infrequent, that creates a fault. Software bugs cause breaches in system security. A Web server is convoluted software which can quite likely include a security fault.

It is not merely the complexity of a Web server that can instigate a glitch, but also its open architecture. Consider a CGI script as a case in point. A CGI script may be processed at the server in reply to a remote call from a client. It 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 may be a chance of a security violation.

Network Administrators also have to face problems from Web servers owing to the threat they pose to the security of the local area network. While there must be no unauthorised incursions, admittance has to be granted to web site visitors. This means that access to the network must be controlled. The Administrator therefore needs to perform a delicate balancing act. Even the most sturdy firewall can be compromised if the Web server is configured poorly. Concomitant with this constraint, normal use of the website may be impossible if the firewall is configured poorly. Finding a model answer is still more tricky if an intranet exists as an element of the system. Usually, the Web server then needs to be configured to identify and verify domains and user groups, which are liable to have varying permission levels and access rights.

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Almost all people using a browser to surf the Net trust that they're doing it incognito and in safety. This is not correct. Web browsers may execute self-contained programs on the client machine which are resident on a web site. Current browsers display a caution and ask permission to execute those programs. Identified commonly as "active content", e.g., ActiveX controls or Java applets, these programs, if malicious, could easily deposit a virus or other hazardous software on the browser user's machine. When it is in the system it can cause all kinds of havoc and may be extremely awkward to remove.

This is also a worry for Network Administrators. Web browsers present a means for potentially malicious software to permeate all the way through the local area network's firewall. Once it is in the system, the harm it can cause can go from covertly gaining possession of sensitive information to gratuitous carnage.

Apart from the issues surrounding active content, just surfing the Web records a trail of the user's activities in the browser's history. This can be used by websites and installed software to determine an exact profile of the user's behaviour and interests. While this may be thought of as an invasion of privacy by some, it can be advantageous by supplying applicable subject matter instantly, so unburdening the user of the task of searching for it.

Secrecy is a question that worries not only browser users but also Web Masters and Network Administrators during the actual transmission of information by means of the Net. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic language of communication for the Net. When it was created, security wasn't the principal feature of its design. Both network and Internet transmissions should therefore not be thought of as as automatically private. Any time the browser on a local PC downloads a private file from the remote Web server, or the browser user completes a form with private information and clicks the 'Submit' button, the transmitted information could be intercepted without authorization.

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