Web Application Security: Defending Against the OWASP Top 10

In an era of constant cyber threats, securing web applications is no longer optional—it is a fundamental requirement for anyone building or managing software. This text-based course guides you through the core concepts of application security, demystifying the industry-standard OWASP Top 10 framework. You will transition from having a basic awareness of cyber risks to confidently recognizing vulnerabilities and applying modern defensive strategies in your development workflow. What you'll learn: - Understand the foundational principles of web security and how the OWASP Top 10 framework categorizes critical threats. - Identify common vulnerabilities such as injection, broken access control, and security misconfigurations in written code. - Apply modern defense mechanisms, including secure authentication flows, token-based authorization, and robust input validation. - Analyze secure and insecure code patterns through clear, step-by-step written examples and pseudocode. - Implement zero-trust security concepts and secure API design patterns to protect modern web services. - Practice basic threat modeling and risk assessment to proactively find flaws before they reach production. The course begins with essential security terminology and the mechanics of the OWASP framework, before guiding you through each critical risk category with conceptual explanations, code comparisons, and actionable mitigation strategies. Designed entirely for beginners, this course requires no prior cybersecurity experience—making it perfect for software developers, QA engineers, system administrators, and technology managers. Start reading today to build a strong foundation in application security and write code that stands up to modern threats.