Web development
A Secure Web Development Checklist You Can Actually Follow
In three lines
- Most websites are not broken into by sophisticated attackers.
- Validation on the browser is a convenience for the user, never a control.
- Administrative access is the shortest path to a full compromise.
Most websites are not broken into by sophisticated attackers. They are broken into through an outdated plugin, a form that trusts its input, an admin account with a reused password, or a server that still exposes a database port to the internet. A short list of enforced habits removes most of that risk.
Treat every input as hostile
Validation on the browser is a convenience for the user, never a control. Every field must be validated again on the server against an explicit allow-list: expected type, length, format and range. Database access goes through parameterised queries, and user-supplied HTML is escaped on output rather than cleaned on input.
- Parameterised queries everywhere — no string-built SQL
- File uploads limited by type, size and stored outside the web root
- Rate limiting on login, search and contact endpoints
Lock the admin door first
Administrative access is the shortest path to a full compromise. Enforce multi-factor authentication for every privileged account, remove accounts the day a person leaves, and give editors editor rights instead of administrator rights because it is faster to set up.
Configure the headers and the transport
HTTPS everywhere with HSTS, a content security policy that names the sources you actually load, cookies marked Secure, HttpOnly and SameSite, and referrer and frame policies set deliberately. These are configuration lines, not projects, and they neutralise entire classes of attack.
Patch on a schedule, not on an incident
Dependencies age badly. A monthly patch window, an automated dependency scan in the build pipeline, and a written owner for each site turn updates into routine maintenance rather than emergency work at midnight.
The practical takeaway
Validate on the server, enforce MFA on admin accounts, set your security headers, and patch on a fixed schedule — that removes the majority of practical web risk.
Related RASED services
Official references
Written by Khalid Namra
Founder & CEO, RASED Solutions — engineering lead of RASED Solutions
Khalid Namra building software since 2015 and leads the engineering and security teams behind RASED Solutions in Riyadh.
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