An introduction to Web Application Security for web application developers (although most principles also apply to mobile and native or embedded apps) at DevFest + GDay George Town 2016. This talk covers the basic principles of infosec (CIA), do's and don't and the top 5 from the OWASP Top 10.

1. Web Application
Security
By Gareth Davies - Mindvalley CTO
Founder of www.darknet.org.uk
Founder of www.security-forums.com
slideshare.com/ShaolinTiger

2. So, Who am I?
• I work at Mindvalley – we hiring! mindvalley.com/careers
• Ex penetration testing team lead (hacker for hire)
• Founder of prominent infosec blog Darknet.org.uk

3. Darknet – A Brief History
• Started in 1999 on EFnet (IRC) by me
• Original IRC co-founder from Penang
• Website launched in 2000
• Current format launched in 2006
• Top 5 Infosec Blog
• 40,000+ RSS Subscribers
• Nominated for multiple awards
Full History: http://www.darknet.org.uk/about/

4. Security-Forums.com – A Brief History
• Started in 2002 as the Darknet Forum
• Wanted to move away from Usenet
• Became the fastest growing infosec forum
• Referenced in Microsoft Newsletter
• Running phpBB
• Sold in 2004 to WindowSecurity.com
Visit: http://www.security-forums.com/

5. This Talk
• This talk covers:
• The principle of infosec
• The basic do’s and don’ts
• OWASP Top 10
Who has been hacked before? Who knows the subject well or has
worked in infosec? Who is familiar with OWASP Top 10?

6. An Introduction To Infosec

7. What is Information Security?
• It is quite a vague phrase – but it can be defined.
C
AI

8. The CIA Triad
•The basic model for Information Security:
•Confidentiality (keeping the data secret)
•Integrity (keeping the data unchanged)
•Availability (keeping the data accessible)

9. Confidentiality
“ Preventing the unauthorized disclosure of information”
• Yahoo Hack exposed 500 Million Accounts
• Can lead to legal issues
• Hacker only needs ‘read’ access

10. Integrity
“ Guarding against improper information modification or
destruction”
• Less frequent but more damaging
• Can remain undetected for long periods (APT)
• Hacker does need ‘write’ access

11. Availability
“Ensuring timely and reliable access to the information”
• DDoS attacks can be extremely damaging
• Very hard to prevent and protect against
• Hacker needs NO access

12. Web App Do’s & Don’ts

13. NEVER Trust User Input
• Validate type, length, format, range
• Use regex, JavaScript form validation + Back-end checks
• Always whitelist, not blacklist

14. ALWAYS Protect Data in Transit
• Use HTTPS/TLS for EVERYTHING
• Use HSTS To Enforce it
• Redirect all HTTP users to HTTPS
• Make sure your app to DB connections are encrypted

15. ALWAYS Hash & Salt User Passwords
• Hash ALL stored user passwords
• Salt all Hashes (globally unique for each user)
• Use bcrypt NOT md5 or SHA-1
• Use a validated library, don’t implement yourself

16. ALWAYS Authenticate Users Safely
• Use an existing, mature framework
• Consider SSO (login via Facebook/Twitter etc)
• Use 2FA for important access (admins/super-users)
• Re-authenticate for important actions (like Github/Gmail)
• Hide user existence (don’t show ID doesn’t exist error)
• Prevent brute forcing with CAPTCHA, rate-limiting etc

17. OWASP Top 10

18. A1- Injection
• NEVER trust user input!
• Separate interpreters from command or query
• For SQL this means binding calls in prepared statements
• Static analysis tools can scan for this

19. A2- Broken Auth & Sessions
• NEVER store plain-text passwords ANYWHERE
• Don’t expose Session IDs
• Make sure sessions time-out
• Rotate Session IDs properly
• Don’t send passwords/sessions over unencrypted lines

20. A3- Cross-site Scripting (XSS)
• NEVER trust user input!
• These attacks focus on the browser as the interpreter
• Properly escape all untrusted data
• Whitelist server-side validation (Second layer)
• There are specific auto-sanitization libraries (AntiSamy)

21. A4- Insecure Object References
• NEVER trust user input! (seeing a pattern yet?)
• Don’t use easily guessable resource names
• User per session or indirect object references
• Check access authorization on every request

22. A5- Security Misconfiguration
• Don’t trust default config EVER (Google MongoDB hacks)
• Always change default account credentials
• Learn about the tools you use and how to secure them
• Don’t expose detailed error messages/debug strings
• Don’t leave samples on the servers (like php_info.php)

23. THE END
For Stalkers
Twitter/Insta: @ShaolinTiger
Blog: www.shaolintiger.com
Infosec: www.darknet.org.uk
This presentation: www.slideshare.net/ShaolinTiger