Security Headers

Security Headers

Security Headers are HTTP response headers that enable security protections in web browsers. They can mitigate common attacks like cross-site scripting (XSS) and clickjacking by implementing policies like Content Security Policy (CSP) and X-Frame-Options.
Security Headers image
http headers csp xss clickjacking

Security Headers: Protect Your Web App

Security Headers are HTTP response headers that enable security protections in web browsers. They can mitigate common attacks like cross-site scripting (XSS) and clickjacking by implementing policies like Content Security Policy (CSP) and X-Frame-Options.

What is Security Headers?

Security Headers are HTTP response headers that enable important security protections in web browsers. By implementing various Security Headers, websites can mitigate common attacks like cross-site scripting (XSS), clickjacking, and more.

Some key Security Headers include:

  • Content Security Policy (CSP) - Defines approved sources of content like JavaScript, CSS, images etc. Blocks unsafe inline code.
  • X-Frame-Options - Prevents clickjacking by restricting iframe embedding.
  • Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS) - Forces browser to use HTTPS for future requests.
  • X-Content-Type-Options - Prevents MIME type sniffing attacks.
  • Referrer-Policy - Controls how much referrer information is exposed.

Security headers provide an added layer of protection beyond traditional methods like input sanitization. They are supported by all modern browsers. Using tools like securityheaders.com site owners can easily analyze and deploy recommended headers.

By leveraging security headers, websites can better defend against common web attacks in an efficient manner with built-in browser protections. They form an integral part of web security alongside other best practices.

Security Headers Features

Features

  1. Sets security-related HTTP headers
  2. Helps prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks
  3. Helps prevent clickjacking attacks
  4. Implements Content Security Policy (CSP)
  5. Implements X-Frame-Options
  6. Implements other security headers like X-XSS-Protection, Referrer-Policy, etc

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Easy to implement

Significant security improvement with little effort

Supported by all major browsers

Prevents entire classes of attacks

Cons

May break some legacy web apps

Requires testing and tweaking for optimal configuration

Extra headers increase response size slightly


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