Exploiting and Securing Vulnerabilities in Java Applications Coursera

Overview

This Exploiting and Securing Vulnerabilities in Java Applications course offered by Coursera in partnership with UC Davis explores both offensive and defensive approaches to application security. From an attacker’s perspective, the course examines how injection vulnerabilities can be exploited to steal data, how cross-site scripting (XSS) can compromise a user’s browser, how authentication weaknesses can grant unauthorized access to restricted data and functionality, and how vulnerable components can be exploited to execute code on remote servers and expose sensitive information.

From a defender’s perspective, the course focuses on identifying and fixing the root causes of these vulnerabilities within application code, along with implementing effective mitigation strategies. Practical experience is gained through the use of WebGoat, an OWASP project designed for learning penetration testing. WebGoat is a deliberately vulnerable application that enables the exploration and remediation of common security flaws.

The course also includes building patched versions of vulnerable applications and highlights online resources that support continued learning and meaningful contributions to the application security community.

What you'll learn

• Practice protecting against various kinds of cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

• Form plans to mitigate injection vulnerabilities in your web application.

• Create strategies and controls to provide secure authentication.

• Examine code to find and patch vulnerable components.