With the tremendous increase in the number of websites and apps, there has also been an increase in the number of attacks; effective web application security must be a top priority.

In the past 10 years, the number of data breaches has grown beyond anyone expectations. This primary reason is why governments in various countries are enacting privacy and data protection regulations. Web application security is crucial because attacks against internet-exposed web apps are the top cause of data breaches. And 77 percent of web applications have at least one security vulnerability, according to Veracode’s 2017 State of Software Security Report.

Web application attacks

The method of successfully phishing a user, installing malware, and remotely controlling the infected computer without anyone noticing did not have a very high success rate. In addition, finding the data to steal required time, and the longer an attacker remained in a network, it increased their chances of being caught.

As a result, attackers began to shift their focus to exploiting web application security vulnerabilities. These attacks are significantly more efficient and effective.

Every time a user visits a website and enters their credentials, signs up for an account, opens a record of some sort, makes a purchase, etc., all of that information — including personal data — is stored on a server that sits behind that application. Taking over a website or app exploiting a software vulnerability often gives attackers free access to the data that is stored on that server.

Attackers may also inject malicious code into web forms to take advantage of applications that don’t properly sanitize what users are allowed to enter into a field. For example, instead of entering a person’s name into a Name field, hackers may enter code that is then executed the application and/or backend database, often exposing the entire database to the attacker.


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