Public Customer Portal

Your customer portal is the digital face of your company. Since it is accessible to everyone on the internet, it must be hardened against a wide variety of attack vectors – from automated bot attacks to targeted exploits.

Your Strategy

Rely on multi-layered defense (Defense-in-Depth). Use modern browser security features such as CSP and HSTS to stop attacks at the source. Perform continuous automated scans (DAST) to detect vulnerabilities immediately after deployment.

Best Practices

  • Integrity: Use Subresource Integrity (SRI) for all external scripts.
  • Encryption: Enforce TLS 1.3 and strong cipher suites.
  • Validation: Trust no input. Use server-side validation against allowlists.

STRIDE-LM Design Risks

SpoofingS-01

Identity Spoofing

Attacker impersonates a legitimate user or partner.

TamperingT-WEB-03

SQL Injection

Injecting malicious database commands via user input.

TamperingT-WEB-02

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Injecting malicious code into the customer's browser.

RepudiationR-01

Audit Log Manipulation

Deleting or altering traces of an action.

Information DisclosureI-WEB-01

Sensitive PII Exposure

Disclosure of personally identifiable information (GDPR risk).

Denial of ServiceD-WEB-01

Application Layer DoS

Exhaustion of resources through complex web requests.

Elevation of PrivilegeE-WEB-01

Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR)

Accessing data objects by manipulating references.

Monitoring GapsM-WEB-02

Missing Security Headers

Missing configuration of protection mechanisms in the HTTP header.

MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques

Reconnaissance
T1595

Active Scanning

ATT&CK

Active scanning of web infrastructure for vulnerabilities.

Mitigated by
Bot Management & Anti-ScrapingExtended ProtectionMedium
CIS: 12.1OWASP: A04:2021
Regular Penetration TestingExtended ProtectionHigh
CIS: 18.1NIST: AI-5.1
Rate Limiting & ThrottlingBaseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 12.1OWASP: API4
Initial Access
T1190

Exploit Public-Facing Application

ATT&CK

Exploiting vulnerabilities in internet-facing services.

Mitigated by
Input Validation & SanitizationBaseline ProtectionMedium
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A03:2021
Strict Transport Security (TLS 1.3)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 6.3OWASP: A02:2021
Regular Penetration TestingExtended ProtectionHigh
CIS: 18.1NIST: AI-5.1
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)Extended ProtectionMedium
CIS: 18.1OWASP: ASVS
T1566

Phishing

ATT&CK

Delivering malicious content via electronic communication.

Mitigated by
Content Security Policy (CSP)Baseline ProtectionMedium
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A03:2021
Security Headers (X-Frame / Content-Type)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A05:2021
Output Content FilteringBaseline ProtectionLow
NIST: AI-1.2OWASP: LLM02
Execution
T1059-007

JavaScript Injection

ATT&CK

Execution of malicious code in the victim's browser.

Mitigated by
Content Security Policy (CSP)Baseline ProtectionMedium
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A03:2021
Input Validation & SanitizationBaseline ProtectionMedium
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A03:2021
Security Headers (X-Frame / Content-Type)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A05:2021
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)Extended ProtectionMedium
CIS: 18.1OWASP: ASVS
Subresource Integrity (SRI)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A06:2021
CORS ConfigurationBaseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A01:2021
Output Content FilteringBaseline ProtectionLow
NIST: AI-1.2OWASP: LLM02
Persistence
T1505-003

Web Shell

ATT&CK

Installation of a backdoor on the web server.

Mitigated by
Input Validation & SanitizationBaseline ProtectionMedium
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A03:2021
Regular Penetration TestingExtended ProtectionHigh
CIS: 18.1NIST: AI-5.1
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)Extended ProtectionMedium
CIS: 18.1OWASP: ASVS
Credential Access
T1539

Steal Web Session Cookie

ATT&CK

Capturing active session tokens to bypass authentication.

Mitigated by
Secure Cookie AttributesBaseline ProtectionLow
NIST: PR.DS-1OWASP: A07:2021
HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A05:2021
Strict Transport Security (TLS 1.3)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 6.3OWASP: A02:2021
T1110

Brute Force

ATT&CK

Attempts to gain access to accounts or API keys through systematic trial and error.

Mitigated by
Bot Management & Anti-ScrapingExtended ProtectionMedium
CIS: 12.1OWASP: A04:2021
Rate Limiting & ThrottlingBaseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 12.1OWASP: API4
T1557

Adversary-in-the-Middle

ATT&CK

Intercepting communication between two parties.

Mitigated by
HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A05:2021
Strict Transport Security (TLS 1.3)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 6.3OWASP: A02:2021
T1552

Credentials from Password Stores

ATT&CK

Extracting passwords from web browsers or password managers.

Mitigated by
Output Content FilteringBaseline ProtectionLow
NIST: AI-1.2OWASP: LLM02
Command & Control
T1568

Dynamic Resolution

ATT&CK

Dynamic generation of targets for concealment (domain fronting).

Mitigated by
Content Security Policy (CSP)Baseline ProtectionMedium
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A03:2021
Subresource Integrity (SRI)Baseline ProtectionLow
CIS: 16.11OWASP: A06:2021
T1071-001

Application Layer Protocol

ATT&CK

Misuse of legitimate web protocols (HTTP/S) for C2 communication.

Mitigated by
Egress Filtering (SSRF Protection)Extended ProtectionMedium
CIS: 12.2OWASP: A10:2021

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