Website development and Security

Emergence of Web 2.0 has made websites fully interactive. Now, users can manipulate content themselves. Thus, chance of data corruption arises. Such corruption may jeopardize system security. Or it can cause unnecessary obstruction to accessibility of information. All these are related somehow to security of system.

The possible security considerations associated with web development are as follows:

• Data entry error checking through forms,
• Filtering output, and
• Encryption.

Users may perform many malicious practices. One such detrimental practice is SQL injection. These users have ill intention with primitive know-how of web development. In addition, scripts can be manipulated to acquire unauthorized access by malevolent users trying to accumulate information often personal in nature. Such information on individual includes email addresses, corresponding passwords and content like credit card numbers or even social security numbers which are often kept protected.

Some of this is information depend on the server environment whish is generally Apache or Microsoft IIS. On this environment, the scripting language  such as PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl or ASP is executed. This environment as well as information kept there are beyond the control of web developers themselves. In other words, it is not down to the level of developers so that they can thrive to maintain it. However, strict and rigorous testing of web applications is a common practice before these are launched for the public. The reason is prevention of detrimental actions to occur.

The practice of safety of web server often called Server Port Hardening. Many technologies are involved in keeping information on the internet secure, especially during the transmission of information from one port to another. For example, to help prevent internet fraud, certificate authorities issue Secure Socket Layer Encryption (SSL) Certificates. Many forms of encryption are time and again employed by different developers during transmission and also at the time of storage of sensitive information. For a web design company, basic understanding of information security and technology involved should be the prerequisites.

New security holes are commonly found in web applications even after rigorous and strict testing and launch. Frequent security patch updates are in practice to plug the lately found holes in security. It is part of the job of web developers to update applications as soon as security patches are launched and new security threats are found out.