Protecting your site and your clients

Web Security

Article from Issue 94/2008
Author(s):

Learn more about protecting your website with NoScript, ModSecurity, and Site Security Policy.

Like many security issues, the World Wide Web presents two very different sets of problems with some very different solutions. On the one side, most of us use a web browser on a regular basis and want to prevent our web clients from running an attacker's code, letting them take over our machine. On the other side are web servers, which you don't want to see compromised, under constant attack (XSS, SQL injection, etc.). So what's the answer? Well, there is no single answer. You need to take steps to protect both the clients and the servers because no matter how security conscious you are, you will interact with servers or clients that are less secure.

JavaScript and NoScript

For the Firefox web browser, out of 196 security advisories, 62 listed disabling JavaScript as a workaround. Additionally, the JavaScript-based vulnerabilities tend to be the ones that allow for arbitrary code execution, so any preemptive security measure that deals with them will have a significant effect.

Securing web clients against attacks is relatively simple; however, some websites might not work properly. Disabling JavaScript entirely is one option, but many sites now rely on JavaScript to present content, forms, and so on.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Download Article PDF now with Express Checkout
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subscriptions
Digital Subscriptions

Related content

  • Security Problem in Firefox’s NoScript Add-On

    Mozilla’s script blocker add-on could be putting malware sites on the whitelist.

    more »
  • Stopping Drive-By Attacks

    You won't find a perfect solution to the growing problem of drive-by attacks, but many tools are available to help you keep malicious code off your network.

    more »
  • Security Lessons

    As ugly and hard to secure as JavaScript is, it could be worse – we could be using ActiveX.

    more »
  • Intrusion 101

    You need to think like an attacker to keep your network safe. We asked security columnist Kurt Seifried for an inside look at the art of intrusion.

    more »
  • Apache ModSecurity

    The Apache ModSecurity module provides extra protection for your web server. We'll show you why this optional application firewall is quickly becoming a favorite of webmasters and security experts.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Mobile Programming Security Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source