Kim Ahley
Week 4 Discussion board
11/19/2023
Professor: Michael Burt
“User functionality directly impacts the experience and success of a
website,” (Peterson, 2023) but can also create risks. Controlling user input is
very important in web development. Web developers can achieve this by
sanitizing and validating input. Sanitizing prevents unsafe characters while
validation will check if the input is in the expected format/type. Using generic
error messages and revealing as less as possible is also a helpful tactic. For
example, it is more secure for a user who accidentally entered incorrect PII to
receive a generic error message such as “Incorrect information” then a
specific message such as “incorrect zip code.”
Developers can secure file uploads by “restricting allowed file types, setting
size limits, and isolating uploaded files” (Zomaya, 2023).
Web developers should have SSL certificates and HTTPS connections to
ensure encryptions for all connections to the website. Third parties will be
unable to access data. This can prevent a man in the middle attack.
Authentication is another layer of defense. This could mean requiring a user
to log in before revealing sensitive information. This ensures that data is
being sent by a legitimate source.
Peterson, T. C. (2023, March 1).
Why is user experience important in website
design and development | TechWyse Internet Marketing
.
https://www.techwyse.com.
https://www.techwyse.com/blog/website-
design/why-is-user-experience-important-in-website-design-and-
development
Links to an external site.
Zomaya, D. (2023, April 24). Best practices for Web form security.
Sucuri
Blog
.
https://blog.sucuri.net/2021/08/best-practices-for-web-form-
security.html
Links to an external site.
