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Discussion on: If you were tasked to conduct a security audit on a server/database-backed web app, where would you start?

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thoughtfultp profile image
Thoughtful Technology Partners LLC

The responses posted provide good information. The only thing I would add is referencing the OWASP ASVS (application security verification standard) as it describes the security that should be built into the application - input handling, session management, use of secure ciphers, privileged command execution etc. This is the link to OWASP ASVS:

owasp.org/images/3/33/OWASP_Applic...

The other item I didn't see mentioned (I may have missed it) but is proper implementation of TLS.

Additional considerations include application and database configuration and secure configuration of the execution venue. Running the application on AWS EC2 instances versus GCP GKE (intentionally drawing a stark contrast) brings different security considerations.