HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) Setup

Hacking via HTTP traffic interception is one of the simplest attacks: an attacker gets between client and server, downgrades the protocol to HTTP and intercepts cookies or injects malicious code. According to SSL Labs, about 30% of sites are still not protected from SSL stripping. Every day tens of thousands of users lose confidential data due to unsecured HTTP connections — the average damage from such an incident exceeds 500,000 RUB, and for large e-commerce can reach several million. HSTS eliminates this problem with a single header. In 15 minutes you close a vulnerability that costs your users their privacy. We don't just set the header — we configure HSTS taking into account your infrastructure, subdomains, and transition plan to the preload list. After enabling HSTS, the browser will always request HTTPS, without an extra redirect, reducing load time by 300-500 ms. HSTS is 10 times more reliable than a simple redirect — it blocks the attack before the connection is established. Implementing preload gives protection on first click even for new users. Caching the HSTS header in the browser for 365 days ensures that even if an attacker intercepts the first request, they cannot downgrade the protocol — the browser already knows to use HTTPS. Contact us to get a consultation and an accurate deployment plan.

How HSTS Works

The server sends the header:

Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload

After the first visit, the browser caches this directive for 365 days. All subsequent requests to the domain and its subdomains are automatically upgraded to HTTPS before being sent over the network — without a 301 redirect, without a round-trip to the server. This eliminates man-in-the-middle attacks during the transition phase.

Why Enable HSTS Early?

The sooner you enable HSTS, the sooner users get protection. But activating with max-age=31536000 on a production site immediately is risky. If it later turns out that the SSL certificate does not cover some subdomain, users will be unable to access it for 365 days. Therefore, we apply a phased strategy.

Typical Deployment Plan:

This scheme avoids subdomain lockout and takes about a month to complete all stages.

Step-by-Step HSTS Deployment

1. Start with max-age=300 on a test subdomain to confirm correct operation.
2. After a week without errors, increase max-age to 30 days.
3. Verify all subdomains have HTTPS. Add includeSubDomains.
4. After two weeks, switch to max-age=31536000 and submit an application to the Preload List.

This methodology minimizes the risk of blocking.

Configuration on Nginx

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload" always;

    # Rest of configuration...
}

The always parameter is critical — without it, the header is not sent on error responses (4xx, 5xx). If you use Cloudflare, you can configure HSTS through the control panel, but then you lose control over the preload directive.

Configuration on Apache

<VirtualHost *:443>
    Header always set Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"
</VirtualHost>

The mod_headers module must be enabled: a2enmod headers.

What's Included in Turnkey HSTS Setup

We prepare a full set of documents and configurations:

• Verification of all subdomains for HTTPS support (including www, cdn, api, mail)
• Header configuration for Nginx or Apache tailored to your structure
• Step-by-step plan for increasing max-age with monitoring control
• Assistance with submitting an application to the HSTS Preload List
• Testing via HSTS Preload Check and a vulnerability report

HSTS Preload List

The application is submitted at hstspreload.org. After inclusion in the list, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari know about your HSTS requirement even before the user's first visit — this provides protection "from the first click." Removing a domain from the list is a lengthy procedure (several months), so we recommend enabling preload only after full confidence in your HTTPS infrastructure.

Preload Requirements:

• max-age at least 31536000
• includeSubDomains directive
• preload directive
• All subdomains must support HTTPS

Comparison of HSTS and 301 Redirect

HSTS is far more reliable in terms of security and faster for the user. Savings on redirects and SSL load can reach up to 30% of traffic costs. For a site with 50,000 unique visitors per month, this means savings of up to 30,000 RUB per year.

How Long Does Setup Take

Basic configuration of a single header — 1–2 hours including testing. Full cycle to preload status — 2–4 weeks, with phased increase of max-age and monitoring. Exact timelines are calculated after an audit of your infrastructure — contact us for an assessment.

Why Choose Us

We have been doing web security for over 8 years and have configured HSTS for 50+ projects, including e-commerce sites with hundreds of subdomains. We guarantee correct operation on all popular CMS and frameworks. Order an HSTS audit now — get a deployment plan and free consultation.

Web Application Security: HTTPS, CSP, XSS, CSRF, WAF, DDoS Protection

A website breach rarely looks like in movies. More often it's: a bot finds an unprotected /admin/export endpoint, downloads the customer database, and closes the connection. Or: through an outdated WordPress plugin, a web shell is uploaded, and the server starts sending spam. Or quieter: an XSS in a comment field allows stealing admin session cookies, unnoticed for months. We have analyzed dozens of such cases — each vulnerability could have been fixed at the development or audit stage.

Web application security is not a single setting. It's layers of protection, each closing a separate class of attacks. Order an audit — we'll assess the project and deliver a turnkey plan within 2–4 weeks.

How do we ensure comprehensive web application security?

HTTPS and Proper TLS Configuration

HTTPS is the minimum mandatory level. But having an SSL certificate and having a properly configured TLS are different things.

In Nginx/Apache configuration we check:

• Protocols: only TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3, SSLv3 and TLS 1.0/1.1 are disabled
• Cipher suites: prefer ECDHE (Forward Secrecy), remove NULL, RC4, DES, 3DES
• HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload) — browser will never make insecure requests
• OCSP Stapling — speeds up certificate revocation check
• Redirect 301 from HTTP to HTTPS — both in server config and code (double redirect causes SEO weight loss)

Check: SSL Labs (ssllabs.com/ssltest) should show A or A+. If B, the configuration is weak.

Let's Encrypt + Certbot for production is standard. Automatic renewal via certbot renew in cron. Wildcard certificates for subdomains via DNS-01 challenge.

Content Security Policy: The Most Powerful and Complex Protection

CSP is an HTTP header that tells the browser which sources are allowed to load resources. A properly configured CSP completely blocks most XSS attacks, even if the vulnerability exists in the code.

The problem: breaking the site with an incorrect CSP is easy. default-src 'none' — and fonts, images, JS stop working. So we start with Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only — CSP logs violations but does not block anything. We monitor reports for 2–4 weeks, refine the policy, then switch to enforcement mode.

Example of a real policy for a site with Google Analytics, Google Fonts, and Stripe:

Content-Security-Policy:
  default-src 'self';
  script-src 'self' https://www.googletagmanager.com https://js.stripe.com 'nonce-{random}';
  style-src 'self' https://fonts.googleapis.com 'unsafe-inline';
  font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com;
  frame-src https://js.stripe.com;
  img-src 'self' data: https://www.google-analytics.com;
  connect-src 'self' https://api.stripe.com https://www.google-analytics.com;
  report-uri /csp-report;

nonce — a random string generated server-side per request. Inline scripts with the correct nonce are allowed; without nonce, they are blocked. This completely breaks XSS via <script>alert(1)</script>.

'unsafe-inline' in style-src is a compromise for inline styles. It's better to remove it by moving all styles to CSS files, but that requires refactoring.

Why XSS Remains the Most Common Vulnerability?

XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) — injection of JS code through user input. According to OWASP, XSS is in the top 3 web application vulnerabilities. Three types:

Protection: never insert user input into HTML without escaping. In PHP — htmlspecialchars() with ENT_QUOTES. In Laravel Blade templates — {{ $var }} is safe, {!! $var !!} is dangerous. In React — {variable} is safe, dangerouslySetInnerHTML is dangerous. For Rich Text — use htmlpurifier on PHP or DOMPurify in the browser.

CSRF: Protecting Forms and APIs

CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) — an attacker forces the victim's browser to send a request on their behalf. Example: a user is logged into a bank, opens a malicious page, which makes fetch('https://bank.ru/transfer?to=evil&amount=50000') — if the bank is unprotected, money is transferred.

CSRF tokens — standard protection for forms: the server generates a random token, stores it in the session, and inserts it as a hidden field in the form. On POST request, the token is verified. The attacker does not know the token. Laravel does this automatically with @csrf.

SameSite cookies — modern protection: SameSite=Strict or SameSite=Lax prevents the browser from sending cookies in cross-site requests. Works in all modern browsers.

API without sessions (JWT, Bearer tokens) — CSRF is irrelevant if the token is not stored in a cookie (but in the Authorization header or localStorage). However, localStorage is vulnerable to XSS — so for sensitive data, HttpOnly cookies with SameSite are preferable.

WAF and DDoS Protection

WAF (Web Application Firewall) filters HTTP traffic for attacks: SQL injection, XSS, path traversal, known exploit patterns. Options:

• Cloudflare WAF — cloud-based, OWASP Top 10 rules out of the box, custom rules via expressions. Managed Rules automatically block new threats.
• ModSecurity (Nginx/Apache) — self-hosted, OWASP Core Rule Set (CRS). Flexible but requires tuning and monitoring of false positives.
• AWS WAF — for infrastructure on AWS, integrates with CloudFront and ALB.

DDoS protection. Cloudflare at L3/L4/L7 is the de facto standard for most sites. Automatic mitigation of volumetric attacks, Under Attack Mode during active attacks. For critical infrastructure — Cloudflare Magic Transit or specialized solutions (Qrator, StormWall for the Russian market).

Rate Limiting at the application level — an additional layer. Laravel ThrottleRequests middleware: 60 requests per minute per IP for general endpoints, 5 for /login and /password/reset. Redis as a counter store — mandatory for horizontally scalable systems (otherwise limits are not synchronized between servers).

Other Mandatory Measures

Security headers. Besides CSP: X-Frame-Options: DENY (clickjacking protection), X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff (MIME sniffing), Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin, Permissions-Policy (restrict browser API access: camera, microphone, geolocation).

SQL injection. Prepared statements everywhere. No concatenation of user input into SQL strings. ORM (Eloquent, Doctrine) protects by default. $wpdb->prepare() in WordPress is mandatory.

Dependency updates. composer audit and npm audit in CI/CD pipeline. Dependabot or Renovate for automatic PRs with updates. Critical CVEs — patch within 24 hours.

Secrets and configuration. .env — never in Git. Secrets in production — via CI/CD environment variables (GitHub Secrets, GitLab CI Variables) or HashiCorp Vault. Leak detection: git-secrets, truffleHog in pre-commit hooks.

How We Work

1. Audit — code scanning, configuration review, dependency analysis, manual business logic verification.
2. Planning — vulnerability remediation plan, stack selection (CSP, WAF, rate limiting).
3. Implementation — TLS setup, CSP configuration, headers, Rate Limiting, WAF.
4. Testing — re-penetration test, load testing, false positive check.
5. Deployment and Monitoring — enable production CSP, set up alerts, train the team.

What's Included

• Report with found vulnerabilities and recommendations (PDF + code snippets)
• Ready TLS configuration (Nginx/Apache)
• CSP policy with Report-Only and production versions
• WAF and Rate Limiting setup
• Dependency update plan
• Access to monitoring tools (Sentry, Datadog)
• 30 days of post-audit support (consultations, fixes)

Timeline and Cost

The budget is calculated individually — contact us for a project evaluation.