Security & Compliance Research
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Overview
Research-driven analysis of web security, vulnerability mitigation, and compliance requirements. Evidence-based practices for PHP and e-commerce applications, covering OWASP Top 10, authentication security, session management, data protection regulations, and secure API design.
Research Articles
Web Application Security Research
Deep dive into web application vulnerabilities and OWASP Top 10 risks. Covers:
- OWASP Top 10 vulnerability prevalence and attack patterns
- Authentication and session management security weaknesses
- UK and EU compliance requirements (GDPR, PCI DSS)
- CVE database analysis and penetration testing findings
Key Coverage Areas:
Broken Access Control: Unauthorised access to resources, a leading vulnerability category in production systems. Inadequate role-based access controls and privilege escalation pathways.
Cryptographic Failures: Sensitive data exposure through weak encryption, inadequate key management, and poor data handling practices.
Injection Attacks: SQL, NoSQL, OS command injection remain prevalent despite widespread awareness. Legacy applications particularly vulnerable.
Insecure Design: Missing or ineffective security controls at the architectural level.
Security Misconfiguration: Default configurations, verbose error messages, and unnecessary services exposed.
Vulnerable and Outdated Components: Unpatched dependencies and third-party library vulnerabilities.
Identification and Authentication Failures: Session management flaws, weak password policies, insufficient MFA enforcement.
Software and Data Integrity Failures: Insecure CI/CD pipelines and unsafe update mechanisms.
Security Logging and Monitoring Failures: Insufficient audit trails and forensic capabilities.
Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF): Applications fetching remote resources without proper validation.
Authentication Security
Authentication and session management are critical security boundaries:
- Weak Password Policies: Insufficient complexity requirements, no account lockout, predictable reset mechanisms
- Session Management Flaws: Session fixation vulnerabilities, inadequate timeout, tokens exposed in URLs, missing secure/httpOnly flags
- Multi-Factor Authentication Gaps: SMS 2FA vulnerable to SIM swapping, unsecured TOTP backup codes, missing MFA for privileged accounts
- Modern Standards: OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and JWT-based approaches
Compliance Requirements
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation):
- Data protection by design and default
- Personal data minimisation
- User rights: access, correction, deletion
- Data breach notification within 72 hours
- Data protection impact assessments (DPIA)
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard):
- Cardholder data protection
- Encrypted transmission
- Access control and monitoring
- Regular security testing
- Secure coding practices
UK-GDPR:
Aligned with GDPR but includes additional provisions for UK-specific organisations and data processing.
Related Services
Security research applies to:
- Security Audits: Penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, compliance verification
- Infrastructure Security Services: Security hardening, vulnerability assessment, production compliance
- Compliance Services: GDPR, PCI DSS, UK-GDPR verification with security audits
Research Approach
Research methodology draws from:
- OWASP Top 10 Project vulnerability prevalence data
- CVE Database disclosed vulnerabilities and severity ratings
- UK ICO Guidance for GDPR compliance requirements
- PCI Security Standards Council payment application security
- Analysis of public vulnerability disclosures (2022-2024)
- Penetration testing reports (anonymised)
- Security professional surveys and compliance auditor input
- Security bulletins from major frameworks and platforms
Scope Notes: Research focuses on common web application frameworks (PHP, JavaScript, Python). Compliance data primarily covers UK and EU regulations. Vulnerability statistics may underrepresent unreported zero-days.
Implementation Approach
Secure Coding Practices:
- Input validation and sanitisation (whitelisting, not blacklisting)
- Output encoding based on context (HTML, JavaScript, URL, CSS)
- Prepared statements and parameterised queries to prevent SQL injection
- CSRF tokens for state-changing operations
- Security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, Strict-Transport-Security)
- Secure cookie flags (Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite)
- Content Security Policy (CSP) implementation
- Subresource integrity (SRI) for external dependencies
Authentication & Session Security:
- Strong password hashing (bcrypt, Argon2, not SHA-256)
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for privileged accounts
- Session timeout and inactivity logout
- Secure session token generation (cryptographically random)
- Rate limiting on login endpoints
- Account lockout after failed attempts
- Password reset mechanisms with secure tokens
- HTTPS-only transmission (no HTTP)
Dependency Management:
- Regular dependency audits and security updates
- Vulnerability scanning tools (Dependabot, Snyk, WhiteSource)
- Software composition analysis (SCA) in CI/CD pipelines
- Removal of unused dependencies
- Lock file management and version pinning
- Regular security patching schedule
Testing & Validation:
- Static application security testing (SAST)
- Dynamic application security testing (DAST)
- Penetration testing (annual minimum)
- Security code review (peer review focused on security)
- Vulnerability disclosure programmes
- Incident response procedures
Regulatory & Standards Context
Industry Standards:
- CWE/CWSS: Common Weakness Enumeration and Scoring System
- CVSS: Common Vulnerability Scoring System for severity ratings
- OWASP Standards: Top 10, Proactive Controls, Secure Coding Practices
- CIS Controls: Centre for Internet Security framework
Enterprise Compliance Scope:
- ISO/IEC 27001: Information security management
- SOC 2 Type II: Security, availability, and processing integrity
- HIPAA: Healthcare data protection requirements
- PCI DSS: Payment card data security standards
- GDPR/UK-GDPR: Data protection and privacy regulations
Ongoing Security Programme
Maturity Framework:
- Reactive Phase: Responding to incidents and vulnerabilities
- Responsive Phase: Regular scanning and patch management
- Proactive Phase: Security testing in development lifecycle
- Managed Phase: Continuous monitoring and threat detection
- Optimised Phase: Predictive security and incident prevention
Continuous Improvement:
- Regular security awareness training
- Bug bounty programmes (for larger organisations)
- Threat intelligence monitoring
- Security metrics and KPI tracking
- Third-party security assessments
Category: Security & Compliance Research
Status: Published
Articles: 1
Coverage: OWASP Top 10, GDPR, PCI DSS, UK-GDPR
Focus: Evidence-based security practices for web applications and compliance frameworks
Total Lines: Comprehensive research guide covering vulnerability analysis, authentication security, compliance requirements, and implementation strategies
