What is web services security and why do you need it?
As technology evolves into all aspects of life, there are very few businesses that can escape the pull of the digital age. Even mom and pop stores that have hung onto the olden days are starting to embrace the millennium they're firmly in at this point. Sure, they might not have their own mobile application or even their own website where customers can buy products, but chances are good that they use computers on the premises or at least store employee or inventory information digitally.
But if you do have a website and you handle the creation of new landing pages and other functions in-house, you likely handle web services processes and are familiar with coding. But because codes can connect to internal data systems, they're particular vulnerable to a number of different types of cyber attacks, as they provide an exploitable backdoor.
To guard against this, if you handle any aspect of in-house coding, you need to know the basics of web services security and why this needs to be a crucial part of your cyber protection process.
What is web services security?
Web services security is two-pronged – you must protect interface and implementation, as well as messages during coding, as code doesn't have any sort of security enabled inherently. Interface and implementation security can be accomplished by enabling secure socket layer, access control lists and other similar controls.
On the other hand, message security would be enabled by implementing XML mechanisms like WS security, security assertion markup language, XML signature and other processes. These types of controls allow the user to make sure the data is safe when a transfer occurs.
Users should also make sure they're auditing for weaknesses in code, which can help show potential threats and faults. Even if cyber criminals haven't taken advantage of such vulnerabilities, this can also expose any startups or shutdown events and problems that could pose an issue to the system as a whole.
Why does this matter?
Simply put, web services security is important because, without it, it opens the code of your website up to a whole host of vulnerabilities that cyber criminals can exploit. This helps keep access to your systems in your hands and keeps your company's information confidential and private.
Because so much of a company's information is stored digitally and easily accessible through a few simple clicks via an internet-connected device, it's supremely important to invest in solid web services security. There will always be cyber criminals out there who aren't going to stop searching for vulnerabilities to exploit – and even the smallest backdoor can be manipulated. And once a hacker is in a company's system, data loss, even if it's recovered and backed up, can still spell the end of a corporation.
What can be done?
For the best results possible, businesses should first set up encryption on their web service platforms. Ensuring that things like anti-virus software is on all devices, a firewall is set up within the system and users have two-factor authentication sign-ins on their hardware, are also tried and true methods of guarding your data.
Because web services security is crucial to the longevity of your business, you need to invest your time and effort into it. And, for best results, you cannot go it all alone, you should likely consult a third-party service for the more advanced processes and security features. This is where BizTech can help. The team can lend a hand with services like IT security architecture, network solutions and managed IT solutions. Don't hesitate to get in contact today.