A quick tip for keeping yourself safe online--if you don’t mind extreme web browsing For the most part, the defense against Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF)–considered one of the most insidious but least appreciated threats in application security–must come from websites themselves, not ordinary web users. To ensure that criminals can’t trick an unknowing user’s web browser into sending unauthorized requests to the websites where they do online banking or other sensitive activities, web developers must increase the number of times they authenticate customers and make other changes in how sites are programmed.But Jeremiah Grossman, CTO at Whitehat Security and one of the country’s most prominent application security researchers, has a workaround he uses to protect himself online. It involves having two browsers: One, which he calls the “promiscuous” browser, is the one he uses for ordinary browsing. A second browser is used only for security-critical tasks such as online banking. When Grossman wants to do online banking, he closes his promiscous browser, opens the more prudish one, and does only what he has to do before closing it and going back to his insecure browser.The approach works because then, even if Grossman encounters the CSRF attack while online, the website where he does sensitive activities won’t execute any orders it receives from his browser. “The bad guys are just looking in the off chance someone is logged into that particular website,” Grossman says.-Rick Cook Update: * Security Researcher Reveals His ’Promiscuous’ Browser Related links:* Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Why a little-known web application vulnerability could cause big problems* Chris Wysopal on Application Security: Is the Backdoor Threat the Next Big Threat to Applications? Related content news Almost 50% of organizations plan to reduce cybersecurity headcounts: Survey While organizations are realizing the need for knowledgeable teams to address unknown threats, they are also looking to reduce their security headcount and infrastructure spending. By Gagandeep Kaur Dec 06, 2023 4 mins IT Jobs IT Jobs Security Practices feature 20 years of Patch Tuesday: it’s time to look outside the Windows when fixing vulnerabilities After two decades of regular and indispensable updates, it’s clear that security teams need take a more holistic approach to applying fixes far beyond the Microsoft ecosystem. By Susan Bradley Dec 06, 2023 6 mins Patch Management Software Threat and Vulnerability Management Windows Security feature What should be in a company-wide policy on low-code/no-code development Low-code/no-code development could bridge the gulf of development backlogs that exists between great ideas and great execution of digital innovation. But not without security policies around areas like access control, code quality, and application vi By Ericka Chickowski Dec 06, 2023 15 mins Application Security Security Practices news analysis Cisco unveils AI-powered assistants to level up security defenses New AI-driven tools aim to simplify and bolster policies, alerts and prevention to reduce complexity when setting security policies and assess traffic without decryption. By Rosalyn Page Dec 05, 2023 5 mins Encryption Cloud Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe