Every security person eventually points you at "the OWASP Top 10" like it is sacred scripture. It kind of is. It is the industry's list of the ten ways web apps get broken the most. But most explanations read like a legal document.
So here it is in human. The ten classics, what each one actually means, and the one-line version of how not to do it. I have seen every single one of these live, in real apps, shipped by real people who were sure they were fine.
1. Broken Access Control. The number one risk, and the one AI loves to skip. The app checks if you are logged in, but not if you are allowed to touch this specific thing. Fix: check permissions on the server for every action, not just in the UI.
2. Cryptographic Failures. Sensitive data stored or sent so anyone can read it. Plain-text passwords, no HTTPS, secrets in the open. Fix: encrypt in transit and at rest, and never roll your own crypto.
3. Injection. User input treated as commands, with SQL injection the classic example. Fix: never glue user input into a query or command. Use parameterized queries, always.
4. Insecure Design. The hole was in the plan, not the code. You built a password reset that lets anyone reset anyone's password. Fix: think about abuse before you build, not after.
5. Security Misconfiguration. Default passwords, debug mode on in production, a storage bucket left public. Fix: lock it down by default and turn off what you do not use.
6. Vulnerable and Outdated Components. That library you added in 2022 and never updated has a known hole, and the exploit is public. Fix: keep dependencies current and run an audit. (I wrote a whole piece on why this one scares me most.)
7. Authentication Failures. Weak passwords allowed, no lockout, sessions that never expire, no 2FA. Fix: strong password rules, rate limiting, and MFA.
8. Software and Data Integrity Failures. Trusting updates or data without verifying them. This is the supply-chain family, SolarWinds-style. Fix: verify what you pull in, sign what you ship.
9. Logging and Monitoring Failures. You got breached three months ago and still do not know. Fix: log the important events, and actually watch them. You cannot respond to what you cannot see.
10. Server-Side Request Forgery. You let the server fetch a URL the user controls, and now it is fetching your internal systems for them. Fix: validate and restrict where your server is allowed to go.
Read it once, and the fog lifts
Here is what nobody says about this list: it is not ten hard problems. It is ten habits.
Most breaches are not exotic. They are one of these ten, shipped by someone smart who was moving fast and assumed the framework had their back. The framework does a lot. It does not do this.
So keep this list taped to the inside of your skull. Before anything goes live, run down it once, out loud if you have to. It takes five minutes. A breach takes your weekend, your reputation, and sometimes your users' money.
Five minutes, every time. That is the whole trade.
The developers who get owned are rarely the ones who did not know. They are the ones who knew, and did not check.
Do not be the second kind.
I am Ksatria Bintang Samudra, an AI-native full-stack engineer with a penetration-testing background and a deep interest in digital forensics, open to remote work worldwide. More of what I build at ksatriabintangsamudra.com.
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