Security is arguably one of the most critical architectural components of any web-based application written in the 21st century. In an era where malware, criminals, and rogue employees are always present and actively testing software for exploits, smart and comprehensive use of security is a key element to any project for which you'll be responsible.
This book is written to follow a pattern of development that, we feel, provides a useful premise for tackling a complex subject—taking a web-based application with a Spring 4.2 foundation, and understanding the core concepts and strategies for securing it with Spring Security 4.2. We complement this approach by providing sample code for each chapter in the form of complete web applications.
Whether you're already using Spring Security or are interested in taking your basic use of the software to the next level of complexity, you'll find something to help you in this book. During the course of this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- The results of a fictional security audit
- Some common security problems of web-based applications
- Several core software security terms and concepts
If you are already familiar with basic security terminology, you may skip to Chapter 2, Getting Started with Spring Security, where we start using the basic functionality of the framework.
