Website security analysis tool
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Assessing Web Site Security Issues
Alas, there are a lot of ways in which web site security can be compromised. For example, security hazards lurk insidiously which could impinge on Web servers and LANs (local area networks) where Websites are hosted, even by the natural use of a Web browser.
Web Masters are in the front line when dealing with the critical threats. As soon as a Web server is installed at a site, a porthole is created in the local area network through which anyone who's using the Internet can peep. Of course, the majority of web site visitors look at only what they're supposed to see, but a small number make an effort to uncover areas of the site that are not meant to be observable by the public. Nefarious visitors mean to go further than just look; they endeavor to unfasten the window and sneak through. The harm they can inflict might be sheer vandalism, for example substituting the website's home page with theirs which could say or show absolutely anything, or it might be robbery, such as appropriating a contacts or orders list.
It is hard to avoid the probability that convoluted software contains bugs. Regardless of how systematically it's tested, there exists typically a particular pattern of events or user actions, while it might take place seldom, that brings about an error. Computer software bugs give rise to holes in system security. A Web server is involved software which can quite possibly include a security gap.
It's not merely the intricacy of a Web server that may produce a problem, but also its open architecture. Consider a CGI script as a case in point. A CGI script can be executed at the server in answer to a remote call 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 contains a bug, there's a risk of a security violation.
Network Administrators also have to cope with problems from Web servers on account of the risk they pose to the security of the local area network. While there ought to be no unauthorized intrusions, access has to be given to website visitors. This means that access to the network should be controlled. The Administrator therefore must 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 website may be not possible if the firewall is configured poorly. Finding a model solution is even more complicated if an intranet exists as an element of the system. Commonly, the Web server then has to be configured to identify and verify domains and user groups, which are likely to have differing permission levels and access privileges.
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Almost all people using a browser to surf the Net suppose that they really are doing it secretly and securely. It is not so. Web browsers can execute self-contained software on the client machine that are hosted by a web site. Modern browsers show a caution and ask authorization to execute such programs. Known generally as "active content", e.g., ActiveX controls or Java applets, these programs, if malicious, may easily install a virus or other hazardous software on the browser user's PC. When it's in the system it can wreak all kinds of havoc and may be very problematical to delete.
This is also a concern for Network Administrators. Web browsers make available a way for potentially malicious software to seep all the way through the local area network's firewall. Once it is in the system, the damage it is able to inflict can go from clandestinely stealing confidential information to meaningless spoliation.
Apart from the matters to do with active content, just browsing the Internet records a trail of the user's activities in the browser's history. This may be utilised by websites and installed programs to determine an exact report of the user's behavior and interests. Whereas this may be considered an invasion of privacy by some people, it can be advantageous by providing appropriate content immediately, thus exonerating the user of the task of trying to find it.
Confidentiality is a subject that concerns not just browser users but also Web Masters and Network Administrators in the actual transmission of information by means of the Internet. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the fundamental language of communication for the Net. When it was formed, security was not the most crucial factor of its blueprint. Both network and Internet transmissions should therefore not be considered as necessarily confidential. Each time the browser on a local PC downloads a confidential document from the remote Web server, or the browser user fills in a form with private data and clicks the 'Submit' button, the transmitted data might be intercepted without authorization.
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