The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook Discovering and Exploiting Security Flaws

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Chapter 2 

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Core Defense Mechanisms

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Web applications employ a myriad of different technologies to implement

their functionality. This chapter contains a short primer on the key technolo-

gies that you are likely to encounter when attacking web applications. We shall

examine the HTTP protocol, the technologies commonly employed on the

server and client sides, and the encoding schemes used to represent data in

different situations. These technologies are in general easy to understand, and

a grasp of their relevant features is key to performing effective attacks against

web applications.

If you are already familiar with the key technologies used in web applications,

you can quickly skim through this chapter to confirm that there is nothing new

in here for you. If you are still learning how web applications work, you should

read this primer before continuing to the later chapters on specific vulnerabili-

ties. For further reading on any of the areas covered, we recommended HTTP:

The Definitive Guide by David Gourley and Brian Totty (O’Reilly, 2002).