Website security is a critical issue and irrespective of the costs involved, vigilance and pre-emptive efforts need to be a necessary part of your organizational strategy. At the pace technology is racing ahead, online attackers and spammers also gear themselves to find newer ways to attack your website. An online site can be a victim of several website vulnerabilities like SQL injections, cross-site scripting, insecure direct object references, and many more. Thankfully, if your website is on the Laravel PHP framework, you can make use of the Laravel security features to make your site and network failsafe.

Why is website security essential?

• Small businesses are as vulnerable as big and medium-scale businesses to cyber-attacks. Almost 43% of cyber attack victims are small businesses.
• In 2020, the average cost of a data breach is going to be more than $150 million.
• By 2021, the global spend on cybersecurity is expected to touch $6 trillion.

Cybersecurity, as we see it, is a sensitive topic and needs to be handled with care. Whether you are a small business or a big multinational company, ensure that you hire the services of a leading website development company in India like AvyaTech for your Laravel website.

Best Laravel Security Features Checklist (2023)

While the Laravel backend platform is secure and quite highly rated for security features in the developers’ community, you cannot assume that your site is 100% secure just because it is on Laravel.

Learn the best tips to improve your Laravel web application with the Laravel security best practices 2021. Follow these tried and tested tips to protect your website from cyber-attacks.

Choose a secure server host for your website

This is quite basic but many business owners and site admins go wrong here. Choose wisely between a shared and dedicated server. You need to have a website backup in place. You also need to ensure that the host is compliant with security protocols like FTPS, SSH, SSL, and VPNs.

Ensure that you are using the latest and updated version of PHP and Laravel

It goes without saying that it is always best to use the latest version of a platform because regular updates from the developers are done to make the system and the platform more robust and failsafe.

Have the firewall setting thoroughly assessed on a regular basis

To achieve optimized security for your site or app, ensure that all required firewalls are in place. There are different options to choose from – hence, it is highly recommended that you take the help of a professional Laravel development company to decide the best ones for your site.

Laravel security features need to be used optimally

Laravel offers a number of in-built security features – for example, the Authentication system from Laravel. The Laravel system uses two authentication techniques to authenticate user information – guards are used to authenticate the user data for every user request, while providers work in retrieving user information from the database. Developers who provide Laravel development services are required to pay attention to building up the database and the models; as well as define the controllers – the rest is for the system to take care of. The built-in authentication features will automatically start to get synched with the site or the app.

Protecting from SQL injection

SQL injection is a common form of unsuspected attacks on sites and apps. These happen due to user information that is stored in cookies, and the way the SQL queries are likely to be changed by others. Use PDO parameter binding to prevent others from trying to change the SQL queries.

Protecting from Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

For each and every active user on your Laravel site or app, the system generates a CSRF token. The use of tokens is done to prevent external parties from creating fake requests. Every time a request is generated, the platform compares the request with that saved in the saved token. If the request does not match with the saved token, the request is treated as invalid and the process does not get executed.

Protection from XSS or Cross-site Scripting

In the XSS attacks, the hackers hack the JavaScript of your site and the app so that each time a visitor comes to the affected page; the malicious script gets executed with damaging effects. Thus, it is essential to have XSS protection in place. Thankfully, the Laravel platform has in-built native Laravel security features to protect your site and app from XSS attacks. The system starts on its own and is the best way to protect your database.

Maintain a backup of the website

While all kinds of pre-emptive steps need to be taken to safeguard your site, business owners should take the backup of the site on a regular basis. Every day, your website admin should schedule some hours for a backup so that your site is always maintained in its freshest form. In case of any emergency, you will always have the option to come back to the backup site.

HTTP is not secure; use HTTPS instead

When HTTP is deployed on your site, all forms of exchanges happen in textual format. This includes sensitive information like personal data and even passwords. It is easy to steal textual content. Thus, use HTTPS deployment to make your site strong and secure. SSL certification and shifting from the HTTP and HTTPS format need to be set up by a reliable Laravel development company.

Use Laravel Purifier

One of the best Laravel security best practices is to use the HTML Purifier in enhancing the security of the system. Again, since this is technical, involve a developer with knowledge of the work.

It is quite evident that there are certain aspects that the website owners can take care of but there are certain aspects that only a specialized Laravel website development company can get done. This is because technical expertise in the platform is required to get the job done. Ensure that you have the best team available at AvyaTech offering dynamic and vibrant Laravel development services for making your site and app foolproof.