Account Protection and User Experience in Web Applications
Web applications face numerous security threats, in particular threats to their customer accounts. Our recent survey of Australian businesses revealed a need for enhanced account protection measures. However, implementing these measures often creates friction for users. This article explores strategies to balance security with user experience in web applications.
The Challenge: Compromised Credentials
Our survey found that 21% of organisations cited reputation loss as their main cybersecurity challenge. This statistic underscores the importance of protecting against compromised credentials.
Causes of compromised logins include:
- Phishing attacks
- Password reuse across multiple sites
- Data breaches exposing user credentials
- Credential stuffing attacks
- Keylogging malware
These vulnerabilities highlight the need for security measures beyond password-based authentication.
Moving Beyond Traditional Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds security, but can introduce friction to the user experience. Our survey found that only 40% of organisations implement bot protection, indicating a gap in security measures.
While 77% of surveyed businesses use MFA, this statistic obscures underlying vulnerabilities. MFA alone doesn't provide comprehensive protection against sophisticated attacks.
Learn more about the limitations of traditional MFA
Contextual Security: A User-Focused Approach
Contextual security offers a balance between protection and user experience. This approach considers factors to determine the risk level of each login attempt, including:
- Location of the login attempt
- Time of day
- Device used
- User behaviour patterns
- IP address reputation
- Network characteristics
By analysing these contextual factors, web applications can implement adaptive authentication measures without always requiring additional user actions.
Figure 1: Key factors considered in contextual security
Implementing Contextual Security in Web Applications
To enhance account protection while maintaining user experience, consider these strategies:
- Real-time monitoring: Implement systems to track user activity and detect anomalies.
- Adaptive authentication: Adjust security requirements based on the risk level of each login attempt.
- Behavioural analysis: Use machine learning to understand user behaviour and flag suspicious activities.
- Transparent security measures: Implement security checks that don't require additional user actions for low-risk scenarios.
- Risk-based access controls: Apply stricter security measures for high-risk actions or sensitive data access.
- Bot protection: Implement measures to detect and mitigate automated attacks.
- API security: Protect APIs from abuse and unauthorised access.
- Residential proxy detection: Identify and mitigate threats from residential proxy networks.
Explore our security solutions for web applications
The Role of User Education
User education remains a component of a security strategy. Training and awareness programs can help users understand:
- The importance of strong, unique passwords
- How to identify phishing attempts
- The risks of password reuse across multiple sites
- The importance of keeping software and devices updated
- How to recognise and report suspicious activities
By empowering users with knowledge, organisations can create a culture of security that complements technical measures.
Addressing Mobile Application Security
Our survey indicates a potential oversight in mobile security strategies. With the increasing use of mobile apps for operations like banking and e-commerce, these platforms represent a growing attack surface.
Only 30% of respondents implement Web Application and API Protection (WAAP), indicating many businesses may lack preparation to protect their mobile assets. This gap leaves mobile applications vulnerable to attacks, including API abuse and data exfiltration.
The Threat of Residential Proxies
Our survey revealed that only 15% of organisations use residential proxy detection. This low adoption rate exposes a vulnerability in many businesses' security postures.
Residential proxies pose a threat to account security by:
- Bypassing traditional IP-based rate limiting
- Evading geolocation-based restrictions
- Facilitating large-scale credential stuffing attacks
- Enabling undetected data scraping
Businesses need to consider security providers capable of detecting and mitigating residential proxy threats.
Learn more about residential proxy detection
Conclusion: Finding the Balance
Balancing account protection and user experience in web applications requires a multi-faceted approach. By implementing contextual security measures, organisations can:
- Enhance security without impacting user experience
- Adapt to threats in real-time
- Reduce the risk of compromised credentials and account takeovers
- Protect against emerging threats like residential proxies and mobile application vulnerabilities
As threats evolve, so must our approach to security. Contextual security offers a path that protects users and organisation reputation.
For more insights on implementing these strategies in your web applications, contact our security experts or explore our security solutions.
Stay secure, stay user-friendly. In web applications, you can have both.