Open Access

Stefan Ababio Amoah

• On a regular basis, we hear of well-known online services that have been abused or compromised as a result of data theft. Because insecure applications jeopardize users' privacy as well as the reputation of corporations and organizations, they must be effectively secured from the outset of the development process. The limited expertise and experience of involved parties, such as web developers, isOn a regular basis, we hear of well-known online services that have been abused or compromised as a result of data theft. Because insecure applications jeopardize users' privacy as well as the reputation of corporations and organizations, they must be effectively secured from the outset of the development process. The limited expertise and experience of involved parties, such as web developers, is frequently cited as a cause of risky programs. Consequently, they rarely have a full picture of the security-related decisions that must be made, nor do they understand how these decisions affect implementation accurately. The selection of tools and procedures that can best assist a certain situation in order to protect an application against vulnerabilities is a critical decision. Regardless of the level of security that results from adhering to security standards, these factors inadvertently result in web applications that are insufficiently secured. JavaScript is a language that is heavily relied on as a mainstream programming language for web applications with several new JavaScript frameworks being released every year. JavaScript is used on both the server-side in web applications development and the client-side in web browsers as well. However, JavaScript web programming is based on a programming style in which the application developer can, and frequently must, automatically integrate various bits of code from third parties. This potent combination has resulted in a situation today where security issues are frequently exploited. These vulnerabilities can compromise an entire server if left unchecked. Even though there are numerous ad hoc security solutions for web browsers, client-side attacks are also popular. The issue is significantly worse on the server side because the security technologies available for server-side JavaScript application frameworks are nearly non-existent. Consequently, this thesis focuses on the server-side aspect of JavaScript; the development and evaluation of robust server-side security technologies for JavaScript web applications. There is a clear need for robust security technologies and security best practices in server-side JavaScript that allow fine-grained security. However, more than ever, there is this requirement of reducing the associated risks without hindering the web application in its functionality. This is the problem that will be tackled in this thesis: the development of secure security practices and robust security technologies for JavaScript web applications, specifically, on the server-side, that offer adequate security guarantees without putting too many constraints on their functionality.…