What is the worry about Web security?
Unfortunately, there is a lot to worry about. There are security risks that affect Web servers, the local area networks that host Web sites, and even innocent users of Web browsers. The risks are most severe from the Webmaster’s perspective. The moment you install a Web server at your site, you have opened a window into your local network that the entire Internet can peer through. Most visitors are content to window shop, but a few will try to peek at things you do not intend for public consumption. Others, not content with looking without touching, will attempt to force the window open and crawl in. The results can range from the merely embarrassing, for instance the discovery one morning that your site’s home page has been replaced by an obscene parody, to the damaging, for example the theft of your entire database of customer information. It is a maxim in system security circles that buggy software opens up security holes. It is a maxim in software development circles that large, co
