{"id":2274,"date":"2020-06-19T10:18:59","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T10:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/?p=2274"},"modified":"2020-07-01T11:58:56","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T11:58:56","slug":"improve-web-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Improve Your Web Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Web security is an often neglected yet essential part of developing any web application. It is estimated that <a href=\"https:\/\/home.kpmg\/xx\/en\/home\/insights\/2019\/05\/get-ahead-of-cyber-security-breaches.html\">businesses lose annually 11.5 billion dollars<\/a> to cyber attacks and this amount is expected to grow. Having a secured application is more important than ever. There are plenty of web security controls that can be implemented to prevent the risks created by web access.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_72 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Web_Filtering\" title=\"Web Filtering\">Web Filtering<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Keyword_filtering\" title=\"Keyword filtering\">Keyword filtering<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Category_Filtering\" title=\"Category Filtering\">Category Filtering<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Reputation_Filtering\" title=\"Reputation Filtering\">Reputation Filtering<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Monitoring\" title=\"Monitoring\">Monitoring<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Bandwidth\" title=\"Bandwidth\">Bandwidth<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Policy_adherence\" title=\"Policy adherence\">Policy adherence<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#File_Transfer_Control\" title=\"File Transfer Control\">File Transfer Control<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Blocking_file_types_and_File_Identification\" title=\"Blocking file types and File Identification\">Blocking file types and File Identification<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#Checking_files_for_viruses\" title=\"Checking files for viruses\">Checking files for viruses<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>Below is a list of activities that will help improve any organization\u2019s web security.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Web_Filtering\"><\/span>Web Filtering<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Web filtering, while being a subset of web security, is in itself quite broad and there are various controls one can put in place to secure an environment, including:<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Keyword_filtering\"><\/span>Keyword filtering<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Despite being basic and not very effective, keyword based filtering can be an option for a first line of defence, although the downside is that it can cause a large number of false positives and false negatives.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Category_Filtering\"><\/span>Category Filtering<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>More effective and efficient than keyword filtering, category filtering allows you to decide the type of sites that are allowed or blocked.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reputation_Filtering\"><\/span>Reputation Filtering<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While most web categorization companies cover a large number of sites, it is important to remember that new sites are being created all the time, some of which may be pretty obscure.\u00a0 These new and obscure sites might not be categorized when an employee visits them and thus you need an extra layer of security to cater for such cases. Beyond simple obscurity, just because a site belongs to a certain category it doesn\u2019t make it safe, and this is where reputation comes into play. Category-based filtering adds good value to your web security measures but together with reputation makes it much more effective.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Monitoring\"><\/span>Monitoring<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a number of benefits when you monitor different aspects of your network and system, such as:<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bandwidth\"><\/span>Bandwidth<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In all cases of monitoring you are ultimately looking for anomalies, therefore monitoring bandwidth can actually provide security benefits. For example, if you see a bandwidth usage spike during the weekend, when no outgoing bandwidth traffic is expected, it is a clear indication of malware running on your network.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Policy_adherence\"><\/span>Policy adherence<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While having employees occasionally attempt to access prohibited sites is expected, if this happens frequently it\u2019s important to look into the reasons why. It could be a sign that policies are too restrictive; however, it could also mean that an employee is trying to access prohibited content such as copyrighted material or hacking tools.<\/p>\n<p>There are a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-network-monitoring-software\">network monitoring software<\/a> for all types of organizations.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"File_Transfer_Control\"><\/span>File Transfer Control<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are many controls that one could use to ensure that files being transferred in and out of the organization are safe. Some of these methods include:<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Blocking_file_types_and_File_Identification\"><\/span>Blocking file types and File Identification<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Denying certain files, such as documents and spreadsheets, from leaving the company can help maintain confidentiality. Likewise, denying executables can protect against malware. Obviously for this to work your web security solution needs to be able to identify the real file type of any file. If web security is simply based on the file extension, then circumventing this is simple thus rendering the policy ineffective.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Checking_files_for_viruses\"><\/span>Checking files for viruses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Whenever a file is downloaded it is important that it is checked for viruses before allowing the employee to access the file.<\/p>\n<p>Any good web security solution will provide most, if not all, of the functionality required to implement each one of the suggestions above, substantially boosting an organization\u2019s level of web security.<\/p>\n<p>The advice above is the tip of the iceberg in terms of improving security. If the organization is large, a more hands-on approach is needed and following a reputable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hackedu.com\/secure-development-training\">secure development training<\/a> is recommended to tackle the on-going threats you may face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web security is an often neglected yet essential part of developing any web application. It is estimated that businesses lose … <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"How to Improve Your Web Security\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/webtechhelp.org\/blog\/improve-web-security\/#more-2274\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to Improve Your Web Security\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":1177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[466,467,468],"class_list":["post-2274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-network-monitoring-software","tag-secure-development-training","tag-web-security","resize-featured-image"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Improve Your Web Security - Web Tech Help<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Web security is an often neglected yet essential part of developing any web application. 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