Understanding modern web threats
The five primary attack vectors are SQL Injection (malicious database code), Cross-Site Scripting/XSS (malicious script injection), Cross-Site Request Forgery/CSRF (tricking authenticated users), brute-force attacks (systematic credential guessing) and DDoS attacks (overwhelming server traffic).
SSL/TLS implementation
SSL is critical for data encryption, authentication, SEO, user trust and PCI DSS compliance. Use Domain Validated, Organization Validated or Extended Validation certificates, configure strong cipher suites, set HSTS headers and consider certificate pinning.
Secure authentication systems
Require passwords of at least 12 characters with mixed case, numbers and symbols, hashed with ARGON2ID. Add multi-factor authentication using TOTP or SMS-based methods.
Input validation and sanitisation
Prevent SQL injection with prepared statements and input validation, and prevent XSS with a Content Security Policy and proper output encoding for HTML and JavaScript contexts.
Firewall configuration
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (e.g. Cloudflare Workers) and a server-level firewall (UFW), with DDoS protection via Nginx rate limiting using separate zones for login and API endpoints.
Regular security updates
Automate updates (Ubuntu Unattended Upgrades, WordPress auto-updates) and manage dependencies with npm audits and Composer security checks.
Backup and recovery
Use automated MySQL backups with 30-day retention and rsync incremental file-system backups, and test disaster recovery to verify restoration and data integrity.
Security monitoring
Analyse Nginx access logs for suspicious patterns with automated alerting, and configure OSSEC intrusion detection to flag SQL injection, XSS and other attacks.
Security headers
- X-Frame-Options.
- X-Content-Type-Options.
- X-XSS-Protection.
- Referrer-Policy and Permissions-Policy.
- HSTS, and a phased CSP starting in report-only mode.
Security testing
Run OWASP ZAP automated scans (baseline and full), Nmap for ports, vulnerabilities and SSL/TLS ciphers, and follow a penetration-testing checklist: information gathering, vulnerability assessment, exploitation testing and post-exploitation.
Compliance and incident response
Address GDPR through anonymisation and hashing and PCI DSS by tokenising rather than storing card data. Maintain a five-step incident response plan — detection and analysis, containment, eradication, recovery and lessons learned — with escalation timelines.
Conclusion
Website security is a multi-layered, ongoing process — a secure foundation, access control, input protection, monitoring, recovery planning, compliance and continuous improvement.