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about the technology

Security is vital for any application, especially those deployed on the web! The internet is full of scripts, bots, and hackers who will seize any opportunity to attack, crack, and hack your site for their own ends. It doesn’t matter which part of a web app you work with—security vulnerabilities can be found in both frontends and backends. Luckily, this comprehensive guide is here with no-nonsense advice that will keep your web apps safe.

about the book

Grokking Web Application Security teaches you everything you need to know to secure your web applications in the browser, on the server, and even at the code level. The book is perfect for both junior and experienced learners. It’s written to be language-agnostic, with advice and vulnerability insights that will work with any stack.

You’ll begin with the foundations of web security and then dive into dozens of practical security recommendations for both common and not-so-common vulnerabilities—everything from SQL injection to cross-site scripting inclusion attacks. Explore growing modern threats like supply-chain attacks and attacks on APIs, learn about cryptography and how it applies to the web, and discover how to pick up the pieces after a hacker has successfully gotten inside your app.

about the reader

For junior web developers who know the basics of web programming, or more experienced developers looking for concrete advice on solving vulnerabilities.

about the author

Malcolm McDonald is the creator of hacksplaining.com, a comprehensive and interactive security training solution that helps working web developers brush up on their security knowledge. He is a security engineer with 20 years of experience across investment banking, start-ups, and PayPal. He has personally trained thousands of developers in web security over his career.