Introduction
In today’s digital age, where information flows seamlessly across the virtual realm, the importance of secure coding has never been more critical. Applications and systems are continually under the watchful eyes of both benevolent users and malicious actors. The first line of defence in this ever-evolving battleground is robust authentication.
This section provides 13 essential tips for software engineers to integrate into their applications’ authentication processes. These recommendations aim to strengthen your applications by enhancing security measures against unauthorized access, simultaneously cultivating trust among your user base, and ensuring the protection of sensitive data.
1. Utilize secure, unique, and case-insensitive usernames
Let’s say you are developing a web application that necessitates users to create accounts using their chosen usernames. It’s not uncommon for multiple users to desire the same username, differing only in letter casing, like ‘HappyBunny,’ ‘happyBunny,’ and ‘HAPPYBUNNY.’ Storing these variations as separate entities in your database can potentially lead to login issues down the line.
To address this challenge, consider standardizing all usernames to a common format, typically lowercase, to…
