Duration 5 days – 35 hrs
Overview
This 5-day course is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of securing web applications using open-source security APIs. The course will cover key concepts in authentication, authorization, secure data transmission, and API security. Participants will engage in hands-on labs to implement security best practices and utilize popular open-source tools.
Objectives
- Understand the fundamentals of web-based security.
- Use open-source APIs and libraries to implement secure web applications.
- Develop secure authentication and authorization mechanisms.
- Protect APIs against common security threats.
- Ensure secure data transmission and enforce API security best practices.
Audience
- Web developers
- Software engineers
- IT security professionals
- Technical leads
- Anyone interested in securing web applications and APIs
Pre- requisites
- Basic understanding of web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
- Familiarity with APIs and RESTful services
- Basic knowledge of programming in languages such as Python, Java, or JavaScript
Course Content
Day 1: Introduction to Web Security and Open-Source Tools
- Overview of web application security
- Common threats: SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, etc.
- Introduction to OWASP Top 10
- Role of security APIs in modern web development
- Hands-on: Setting up a secure development environment
- Exploring popular open-source security APIs:
- OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy)
- Security libraries for Python (e.g., Flask-Security) and JavaScript (e.g., Helmet.js)
- Lab: Scanning a sample application using OWASP ZAP
Day 2: Authentication and Authorization
- Understanding authentication mechanisms
- Basic Auth, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect
- Authorization strategies:
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Attribute-based access control (ABAC)
- Hands-on: Implementing OAuth 2.0 using open-source libraries (e.g., Authlib in Python, Passport.js in Node.js)
- Lab: Configuring OpenID Connect in a sample application
- Case study: Comparing secure and insecure implementations
Day 3: Secure Data Transmission
- Importance of HTTPS and TLS
- Data encryption techniques: symmetric and asymmetric encryption
- Using security APIs for data protection:
- OpenSSL (C, Python)
- JWE (JSON Web Encryption) libraries
- Hands-on: Configuring HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt
- Lab: Encrypting sensitive data using open-source libraries (e.g., PyCryptodome, Crypto-JS)
- Best practices for secure cookie management and data storage
Day 4: API Security
- Best practices for securing APIs
- Input validation and sanitization
- Rate limiting and throttling
- API gateway security
- Exploring tools: Kong API Gateway, Apigee
- Hands-on: Implementing rate limiting using open-source libraries (e.g., Flask-Limiter, Express Rate Limit)
- Lab: Protecting APIs from common threats using Helmet.js and OWASP API Security guidelines
- Case study: API security breaches and lessons learned
Day 5: Advanced Topics and Final Project
- Securing microservices communication
- Mutual TLS
- JWT and OAuth 2.0 for microservices
- Advanced API security practices
- Threat detection and monitoring with open-source tools
- Introduction to DevSecOps and CI/CD security
- Final Project: Securing a web application with APIs
- Participants will secure a provided web application using learned concepts and tools
- Group presentations and feedback
- Q&A and course wrap-up
