What Is Web Security?

Web security is the discipline of protecting networks, servers, users, devices, and IT systems from internet-based cyberattacks. These include attack vectors such as malware, phishing, and other attacks that can result in data breaches and data theft. Web security typically requires multiple layers of technologies and defenses that may include a web application firewall, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), URL filtering, and antivirus/anti-malware solutions. Web security may include web application and API security as well as cloud security solutions designed to protect cloud environments.

Web security solutions may be deployed on-premises or in the cloud. Web traffic to and from endpoints on the network are directed through the web security technology, which monitors and inspects all traffic and requests to search for potential threats. Web security solutions usually involve a variety of tools that offer multiple layers of protection against malware infections, data loss, credential theft, and violations of security policies. Approved traffic is allowed to continue to its destination, while suspicious traffic can be blocked, quarantined, or flagged.

The web has allowed the world and the marketplace to become highly interconnected. At the same time, it has created much broader attack surfaces by publicly exposing more data, applications, and infrastructure. Threat actors have exploited these changes, finding many ways to penetrate defenses by targeting web apps, APIs, and resources. When this type of cybercrime is unimpeded, hackers can easily gain access to IT ecosystems to steal money, exfiltrate data, hijack accounts, and disrupt business in innumerable ways. Web security solutions protect organizations and their data and users from a broad range of threats, as well as from losses to revenue, productivity, reputation, customers, and business opportunities.

When organizations manage web security programs successfully, they can count on several significant advantages.

• Data security. Web security blocks attacks like phishing, malware, and drive-by downloads that are designed to access and exfiltrate sensitive data. Web security technology can also help to prevent malicious and inadvertent leaks and safeguard security credentials, financial records, personally identifiable information (PII), and other sensitive data.
• Business continuity. Businesses with strong web security can more successfully avoid downtime and disruption caused by cyberattacks.
• Regulatory compliance. Strong web security programs help organizations achieve compliance with a wide array of regulatory frameworks, including GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.
• Support for remote workers. Web security solutions are critical to ensuring secure access for remote workforces and work-from-anywhere employees. Enforcing security policy on any device connecting to the web enables workers to stay productive no matter where they go.
• Brand reputation. Organizations that succumb to web-related cyberattacks inevitably suffer damage to their brand. On the other hand, companies with strong security are able to build greater trust in their brand and increase customer engagement.
• Avoid financial loss. Web security can help organizations avoid the significant financial losses that often result from a successful cyberattack. These expenses include the cost to mitigate attacks and repair damage, the fines incurred from lack of regulatory compliance, and the loss of productivity incurred during an outage resulting from a cyberattack.

Threats to web security fall into several major buckets. Many of these security threats appear in the OWASP Top 10, a list of the most dangerous threats and vulnerabilities.

• Malware. Cybercriminals often install malicious software, or malware, on users’ computers to conduct a broad range of malicious actions such as stealing login credentials, conducting denial-of-service attacks, or transferring money from accounts. Ransomware is a form of malware that is particularly dangerous, as it encrypts files on computers and servers, allowing attackers to demand a ransom in exchange for a decryption key.
• Phishing attacks. In phishing attacks, hackers use fake websites or other forms of deception to trick victims into revealing sensitive information like passwords or credit card information.
• Page hijacking. In page or browser hijacking, hackers direct unwitting users to a fake website or cause a browser to perform unwanted or malicious actions, such as recording keystrokes or stealing information.
• Advanced persistent threats. This type of attack enables hackers to remain undetected within an organization’s IT environment for a prolonged time, allowing them to collect data, observe actions, and undermine the organization’s security and operations.
• Shadow IT. Shadow IT is any solution that users adopt or download that is not approved by the IT department. Users often turn to shadow IT to solve problems, try new technologies, or improve efficiency. Because shadow IT is inherently not protected by security controls, it can create gaps in web security that leave the door open for attackers.
• Injection attacks. Attackers may use input fields within a website or web application to inject malicious code that makes changes to the software or enables attackers to access systems. SQL injection in online forms may enable hackers to change data and privileges within a database.
• Denial of service (DoS). Denial-of-service and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks cause IT resources like servers to crash or slow down by inundating them with malicious or fake requests. As a result, these IT resources are unable to provide services to legitimate users and applications.
• Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. This attack vector exploits web pages that don’t adequately validate user input, which may allow malicious code to be reflected back to the user. XSS attacks can be used to perform a variety of malicious actions such as stealing user cookies or performing actions on a user’s behalf.
• Password breaches. Attackers frequently use stolen or compromised passwords to gain access to user accounts on websites, allowing them to steal money and data, hijack accounts, or access IT environments.

Security teams may deploy a wide variety of web security solutions to defend against internet-borne attacks.

• Application control. Security administrators may enforce application-specific rules to control the use of certain applications and the sensitive data within them.
• Data leak prevention (DLP). DLP solutions help organizations identify their most critical data assets and define security policies to protect them. DLP technologies can also monitor traffic to prevent sensitive data from leaving the organization through malicious or inadvertent leaks.
• Antivirus/anti-malware software. Web security solutions can block viruses and malware by inspecting all web traffic entering and leaving the organization to search for packets containing code related to known malware and viruses.
• URL filtering. Organizations may deploy URL filtering to block users from visiting websites that are suspicious or known to be malicious, based on threat intelligence feeds.
• Secure web gateway (SWG). A SWG monitors traffic and enforces policies to block unwanted traffic and prevent threats from entering an IT environment.
• Web application firewall (WAF). A WAF in networking environments blocks malicious code injection, prevents DDoS attacks, and strengthens an organization’s security posture.
• DNS controls. DNS controls — like a DNS firewall — help to spot and mitigate attacks that exploit the Domain Name System, which converts the human-readable names of websites into addresses that can be read by machines.
• Vulnerability scanners. By scanning applications for known vulnerabilities, security teams can identify and mitigate weaknesses in software before attackers can discover and exploit them.
• VPN. A virtual private network encrypts traffic between remote devices and the network to keep data safe and prevent machine-in-the-middle attacks.
• Security awareness training. By educating employees about common techniques used by attackers, organizations can help prevent attacks caused by human error.
• Intrusion detection and prevention. Intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) identify and block suspicious attempts to gain unauthorized access to a network.

Security teams frequently adopt these practices to enhance web security.

• Deploy HTTPS. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) secures communication between browsers and web servers by encrypting data to prevent it from being intercepted by threat actors during transmission.
• Updates and patches. Regularly updating software and patching systems is critical to eliminating vulnerabilities that hackers use in a variety of attacks.
• Strong passwords. Encouraging users to use strong passwords and to not reuse passwords can help to prevent attackers from gaining access to accounts and IT networks.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA solutions (link to https://www.akamai.com/glossary/what-are-mfa-solutions) require users to present two or more forms of identification before receiving access to IT resources.
• Frequent backups. Regularly backing up databases, files, and website configuration data is crucial to restoring operations quickly after a breach or attack.