A complete guide to web application security and risks

Imagine you're running a small online store. Customers visit your website, browse your products, and enter their payment details to make a purchase. One day, you find out that cybercriminals exploited a weakness in your website to steal your customers' credit card information. This damages your reputation, could lead to financial penalties, and causes a loss of trust.

This is why web application security is so important. It's like a cornerstone of modern digital resilience. As businesses rely more on web applications to interact with customers, store sensitive data, and manage operations, ensuring their security is more critical than ever.

This guide will help you identify risks, adopt best practices, and effectively safeguard your web applications.

Key takeaways

• Web application security means protecting your web apps from vulnerabilities and threats.
• Cyber-attacks on web applications are rising, making robust security measures necessary.
• Implementing security testing, web application firewalls, and best practices can mitigate vulnerabilities.
• Proactive web application security helps businesses maintain trust, comply with regulations, and protect sensitive data.

What is web application security?

Web application security focuses on protecting web apps from vulnerabilities and threats that could compromise their functionality, data integrity, or user information.

This includes a wide range of measures aimed at identifying and mitigating risks such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. By ensuring web applications are secure, businesses can safeguard sensitive data and maintain the trust of their users.

In simple terms, web application security ensures an application can resist attempts to exploit its weaknesses. It combines proactive measures like security testing and reactive tools, such as web application firewalls, to create a comprehensive defense against cyber threats.

The importance of web application security

Therefore, with the increasing reliance on web applications, their security has become a top priority for organizations of all sizes. Here’s why web application security is crucial:

1. Protecting sensitive data. Web applications often handle personal information, financial data, and intellectual property. A security breach can expose this sensitive information, leading to financial and reputational damage.
2. Maintaining customer trust. Users expect their data to be safe. A compromised application can erode customer trust and harm brand reputation.
3. Regulatory compliance. Many industries are subject to strict data protection regulations. Ensuring web application security helps businesses comply with these standards and avoid penalties.
4. Preventing downtime. Security incidents like DoS attacks can disrupt application availability, leading to business losses.
5. Staying ahead of cybercriminals. Attackers continuously develop new techniques, and robust web application security helps you stay one step ahead.

Prioritizing web application security safeguards your organization against threats, builds trust, ensures compliance, and reinforces resilience.

Potential risks to web application security

However, web applications face numerous security risks that can lead to data breaches, downtime, and loss of user confidence. Here are some of the most common risks:

• Injection attacks: SQL injection and command injection attacks manipulate input fields to execute malicious commands or access sensitive data
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): This allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users, compromising their data
• Broken authentication: Weak or improperly implemented authentication can allow attackers to impersonate legitimate users
• Sensitive data exposure: Applications that fail to secure sensitive data through encryption are vulnerable to data theft
• Security misconfigurations: Misconfigured servers, frameworks, or APIs create vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit
• Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks: Attackers overload the application with traffic, making it unavailable to legitimate users
• Insecure APIs: Poorly secured APIs can provide attackers with an entry point to access backend systems
• Insufficient logging and monitoring: Without proper logging, it becomes difficult to detect and respond to security incidents

Understanding these risks is the first step in strengthening your web application's defenses. Proactively addressing vulnerabilities can protect your users, data, and reputation from potentially devastating consequences.

Recent data on web application security

According to an IBM report, the average cost of a data breach has increased to $4.88 million in 2024, up from $4.35 million in 2023, highlighting the financial impact of security breaches on businesses.

The average enterprise manages 613 API endpoints, with API traffic constituting over 71% of web traffic. Because of that, insecure APIs are the most prevalent vulnerability, impacting 33% of applications. Based on the Imperva report 2024, API-related security issues cost organizations up to $87 billion annually.

Therefore, SQL injection affects 25% of web applications, cross-site scripting (XSS) affects 18%, and broken authentication affects 27%.

Web application attacks account for 26% of all breaches, making them the second most common attack pattern. This underscores the need for robust web application security measures.

Web application security best practices

The best way to protect web applications from security threats is to apply best practices proactively. Here are key strategies to consider:

1. Conduct regular security testing

Security testing should be a routine process for identifying and addressing vulnerabilities. This includes:

• Penetration testing: Simulates real-world cyber-attacks to identify weak points. For example, a penetration test might reveal that your login page is vulnerable to brute-force attacks, allowing you to strengthen password requirements or implement account lockouts.
• Vulnerability scanning: Automated tools can scan your application for known vulnerabilities, such as outdated libraries or misconfigured settings. For example, a scan might detect an unpatched vulnerability in your database system.
• Code reviews: Reviewing application code helps spot insecure practices like hard-coded credentials or SQL queries without proper sanitization. If a code review finds that user inputs are not validated, it may prevent potential SQL injection attacks.

2. Use web application firewalls (WAFs)

A web application firewall acts as a shield between your application and potential attackers. WAFs monitor and filter incoming traffic to block malicious requests and prevent unauthorized access.

How it works? Imagine your e-commerce platform is targeted with a bot attack attempting to scrape product pricing. A WAF monitors incoming traffic and filters out malicious requests, such as SQL injections or cross-site scripting (XSS) attempts. Then, it can block these automated requests while allowing legitimate users to access your site seamlessly.

3. Implement strong authentication and authorization

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra security layer by requiring a second verification method, such as a text message code or a fingerprint scan. If a malicious actor compromises an employee’s password, MFA will prevent access by asking for the second factor, such as a smartphone-generated code.

In addition to MFA, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) ensures users only access the resources necessary for their roles. For example, in a healthcare application, RBAC would allow doctors to view patient records but restrict administrative staff from accessing sensitive medical data.

4. Encrypt sensitive data

Use HTTPS to encrypt data as it travels between users and your application, protecting it from interception. Encrypt stored data using strong algorithms like AES-256 or ChaCha20, which make any stolen database useless for attackers without the decryption keys.

5. Keep software updated

Regularly update your application, frameworks, and libraries to patch weak security spots, and use automated tools to track updates for dependencies. Outdated software often contains unpatched vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Even an outdated Windows system can become a vulnerability for a ransomware attack (true story!).

6. Adopt a Zero Trust approach

A Zero Trust approach operates on the principle that no user or device is inherently trustworthy, regardless of its location within or outside the network. To implement Zero Trust effectively, every access request must be validated to confirm the user’s identity and the request's legitimacy.

Continuous monitoring helps detect suspicious activity and maintain security. Additionally, enforcing the principle of least privilege ensures that users only have access to the resources necessary for their roles, minimizing potential vulnerabilities.

7. Secure APIs

APIs are a frequent target for attackers, making it essential to implement robust security measures. To secure APIs effectively, use authentication and authorization protocols to ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive data.

Validating input is crucial to prevent injection attacks, which can compromise the integrity of the application. Limiting API calls is another important strategy to prevent abuse and mitigate the risk of DOS attacks.

8. Monitor and log activity

Comprehensive logging enables you to detect and respond to security incidents, such as attempts to access restricted files. Use monitoring tools to gain real-time visibility into your application’s activity.

For example, if your monitoring system detects multiple failed login attempts from an unfamiliar IP address, it can trigger an alert or block the IP.

How NordLayer can help

The toggle-ready network security platform NordLayer provides robust solutions to address web application security risks effectively. Whether you’re concerned about security testing, application vulnerabilities or need a web application firewall, NordLayer can help safeguard your business.

• Threat prevention: NordLayer’s solutions block malicious traffic, prevent access to harmful websites, and prevent malware downloads.
• Secure access: With frameworks like Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), NordLayer ensures secure and limited access to web applications. Its features, including Cloud Firewall, filter traffic at the application layer, offering strengthened protection against sophisticated threats.
• Comprehensive monitoring: Advanced monitoring of activity logs, usage dashboards, and Device Posture Monitoring helps identify security vulnerabilities and respond proactively.

By integrating NordLayer into your cybersecurity strategy, you can achieve a multi-layered defense that mitigates web application security threats and improves business protection.