WebSockets is a new communications protocol for the web, enabling fast communication between two or more clients.
The overall goal with this study was to investigate the security related problems the introduction of WebSockets could have in start-up companies. Also, how XSS-attacks from a server-side perspective could be averted. This to give the foundation for how start-up companies should work proactively with the security, also not have to turn to external security services.
A qualitative study has been performed with the method literature study. Earlier research in the field has been reviewed and analysed. This for both WebSockets and the impact hacking and specifically XSS-attack could have on an organization. This ’metastudy’’s main purpose has been to connect earlier research to answer the problem statements. This has according to research been asked for a lot in the informatics field, where there is a lack of these kinds of ’metastudies’.
The study resulted in acknowledging the most important threats to protect against, among others the importance of inspecting what source a client is connecting from to a WebSockets server. But also, several XSS-attacks where specifically callback modification was identified as a vulnerability with big consequences.
In the conclusion based on the literature study, recommendations for the proactive security work could be presented.