PHP and MySQL Web Development 4th Ed-tqw-_darksiderg

16
Web Application Security
IN THIS CHAPTER WE CONTINUE THE TASK of looking at application security, looking at
the broader theme of securing our entire web application. Indeed, every single part of
our web applications will need to be secured from possible misuse (accidental or intentional),
and we will want to develop some strategies to developing our application that
will help us stay secure.
Key topics covered in this chapter include
n Strategies for dealing with security
n Identifying the threats we face
n Understanding who we’re dealing with
n Securing your code
n Securing your web server and PHP
n Database server security
n Protecting the network
n Disaster planning
Strategies for Dealing with Security
One of the greatest features of the Internet—the openness and accessibility of all
machines to each other—also turns out to be one of the biggest headaches that you as a
web application author have to face.With so many computers out there, the users of
some are bound to have less than noble intentions.With all this danger swirling around
us, it can be intimidating to think about exposing a web application dealing with potentially
confidential information such as credit card numbers, bank account information, or
health records to the global network. But business must go on, and we as the authors
must look beyond simply securing the e-commerce portions of our application, and
develop an approach to planning for and dealing with security.The key is to find one