🔐 Understanding the OWASP Top 10: The Basics of Web App Security

As a cybersecurity intern exploring the web application security space, I started with the OWASP Top 10 — a fundamental list of the most common vulnerabilities that can affect modern web applications. This blog is part of a personal learning series where I dive into each vulnerability with hands-on examples, real-world impact, and mitigation tips.

📌 What is OWASP?

OWASP (Open Worldwide Application Security Project) is a nonprofit focused on improving software security. The Top 10 is their flagship list of the most critical security risks to web applications.

🧠 Why Should You Care?

Even big companies like Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn have paid millions in bug bounties for issues that fall under these categories. Knowing them can help developers and cybersecurity enthusiasts secure their code and systems.

🔟 The OWASP Top 10 (2021)

🖼️ Here’s how the OWASP Top 10 evolved from 2017 to 2021 — note the new categories like “Insecure Design” and “SSRF.”

1. Broken Access Control

2. Cryptographic Failures

3. Injection (SQLi, etc.)

4. Insecure Design

5. Security Misconfiguration

6. Vulnerable and Outdated Components

7. Identification and Authentication Failures

8. Software and Data Integrity Failures

9. Security Logging and Monitoring Failures

10. Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

This is just the beginning of my OWASP journey. Over the next few posts, I’ll explore each vulnerability one by one—with breakdowns, examples, and how to guard against them.

🔐 Up next: Broken Access Control—where poor permission handling can expose sensitive data.

Stay tuned, stay curious, and most importantly—stay secure!

👩‍💻 I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in the comments—especially if you’re also just starting your journey in cyber!