Web site security articles
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An Understanding of Web Site Security Considerations
An unfortunate fact is that there are various ways in which website security can be circumvented. Security risks exist which have an effect on Web servers and LANs (local area networks) on which Web sites are located, even by the ordinary use of a Web browser.
Web Masters come under fire when handling the gravest threats. As soon as a Web server is set up at a site, a window materialises in the local area network through which anyone who's on the Internet can peek. Naturally, as a rule web site visitors look at no more than what they're supposed to see, but just a few of them make an effort to locate parts of the site which aren't intended to be discernible by the public. Malicious visitors mean to do other than simply look; they make an attempt to unbolt the window and steal inside. The damage they can inflict might be sheer vandalism, for example changing the web site's home page with one of their own which might say or display anything, or it could be robbery, like gaining possession of a contacts or sales database.
It is hard to elude the probability that complex software has bugs. Regardless of how systematically it's tested, you can find more often than not a particular order of events or user actions, while it may be rare, which leads to a fault. Software bugs cause flaws in system security. A Web server is convoluted software that can very possibly contain a security defect.
It's not only the complexity of a Web server that can create a glitch, but also its open architecture. Consider a CGI script as an example. A CGI script may be executed at the server in response to a remote call from a client. This might 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 chance of a security breach.
Network Administrators also have to face problems from Web servers owing to the threat they pose to the security of the local area network. Although there should be no unauthorised incursions, right of entry has to be given to web site visitors. This means that access to the network should be controlled. The Administrator therefore has to perform a delicate balancing act. Even the most sturdy firewall can be undermined if the Web server is configured poorly. Concomitant with this constraint, normal use of the website may be unattainable if the firewall is configured badly. Reaching an ideal solution is yet more complicated if an intranet forms a constituent of the system. Typically, the Web server then needs to be configured to recognize and verify domains and user groups, which are apt to have differing permission levels and access rights.
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Most people using a browser to surf the Internet believe that they are doing it in secret and safely. It is not so. Web browsers may process autonomous programs on the client computer which are hosted by a website. Modern browsers show a caution and ask consent to run such programs. Described generally as "active content", e.g., ActiveX controls or Java applets, these programs, if malicious, can easily install a virus or other hazardous software on the browser user's machine. When it is in the system it can wreak all kinds of catastrophe and can be very tricky to remove.
This is also a worry for Network Administrators. Web browsers supply a way for potentially malicious software to permeate all the way through the local area network's firewall. After it is in the network, the harm it is able to inflict can range from surreptitiously appropriating confidential information to willful spoliation.
Aside from the matters to do with active content, just surfing the Internet leaves a trail of the user's activities in the browser's history. This may be utilized by websites and installed programs to create an exact report of the user's behavior and preferences. Though this may be thought of as an invasion of privacy by some, it can be positively effective by offering germane content straight away, thus relieving the user of the job of trying to find it.
Privacy is a topic which concerns not just browser users but also Web Masters and Network Administrators during the actual transmission of data by means of the Web. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic language of communication for the Net. When it was created, security was not the most significant aspect of its design. Both network and Internet transmissions should therefore not be thought of as as essentially private. When the browser on a local PC downloads a confidential file from the remote Web server, or the browser user completes a form with personal data and clicks the 'Submit' button, the transmitted data may be intercepted without authorization.
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