Overview
Web applications are exposed by design, and most attacks reach them as ordinary requests. The recurring weaknesses are documented in the OWASP Top 10, which groups them into categories such as broken access control, injection, security misconfiguration, vulnerable components and authentication failures.
No single control covers all of them, which is why application security is layered.
Key concepts
- 01
Broken access control
Users reach data or actions they should not, by changing an identifier, skipping a step or calling a function directly.
- 02
Injection and untrusted input
Data treated as code, for example in database queries or scripts, lets attackers change what the application does.
- 03
Misconfiguration and components
Default settings, exposed debugging and outdated libraries are among the most common causes of compromise.
- 04
Automated abuse
Bots, credential stuffing and application-layer floods target logins, checkout and search, and look like legitimate demand.
What good looks like
- Build security into design and code review, and test before release.
- Keep dependencies and components current.
- Place a web application firewall in front of internet-facing applications.
- Apply rate limiting and bot controls to login, checkout and search.
- Use virtual patching to cover the time between disclosure and release.
Common pitfalls
- Relying on the firewall instead of fixing the code.
- Tuning rules once and never revisiting them.
- Protecting the main site and forgetting secondary applications.
How Neonix helps
CybrWAF provides a web application firewall, OWASP protection, Layer 7 DDoS protection, bot management, rate limiting, IP reputation and geo controls, custom rules and virtual patching.
This note is an overview of the topic and of how Neonix approaches it. It does not report original incident data.