The rise of Single Page Applications and mobile clients has led to a new era of backend security. In the past, most backend applications were server-side rendered, meaning that the server generated the HTML and sent it to the client. This meant that all the sensitive data was kept on the server and the client only ever saw the HTML.
Nowadays, with client-side rendering, the client has access to the data and the HTML is generated on the client-side. This means that the data is no longer secure on the server and must be protected.
One way to protect data is to use OAuth. OAuth is an authorization protocol that allows a user to grant a third-party application access to their data. The third-party application will then have an access token that it can use to access the data.
Another way to protect data is to use JSON Web Tokens (JWT). JWT is a standard for encoding data in a JSON object. The data is then signed with a secret key and can be decoded by anyone who has the key.
Both OAuth and JWT have their advantages and disadvantages. OAuth is more secure but JWT is easier to implement. In this article, we will learn how to use both OAuth and JWT to secure a backend application.
OAuth is an authorization protocol that allows a user to grant a third-party application access to their data. The third-party application will then have an access token that it can use to access the data.
OAuth is more secure than JWT because it uses authorization codes. Authorization codes are only valid for a single use and are then invalidated. This means that if a hacker were to get hold of an authorization code, they would only be able to use it once.
JWT, on the other hand, uses refresh tokens. Refresh tokens are valid for a longer period of time and can be used to generate new access tokens. This means that if a hacker were to get hold of a refresh token, they could keep generating new access tokens and gain access to the data.
OAuth is also more secure because it uses SSL. SSL is a protocol that encrypts data. This means that if a hacker were to intercept the data, they would not be able to read it.
JWT does not use SSL. This means that if a hacker were to intercept the data, they would be able to read it.
To use OAuth, you will need to register your application with an OAuth provider. The provider will then give you a client ID and a client secret. The client ID is used to identify your application and the client secret is used to authenticate your application.
You will then need to redirect the user to the provider's authorization page. The user will then be asked to grant your application access to their data.
If the user grants your application access, the provider will redirect the user to your redirect URI with an authorization code. Your application will then use the authorization code to request an access token from the provider.
The provider will then return an access token to your application. Your application can then use the access token to access the data.
JWT is a standard for encoding data in a JSON object. The data is then signed with a secret key and can be decoded by anyone who has the key.
JWT is easier to implement than OAuth because it does not require you to register your application with a provider. You will need to generate a secret key, which can be done with a tool like OpenSSL.
To encode data with JWT, you will need to base64 encode the data. The data can then be signed with the secret key. The signature can then be base64 encoded. The data, the signature, and the secret key can then be concatenated and put in a JSON object.
The JSON object can then be passed to the client. The client can then decode the data and verify the signature. If the signature is valid, the data can be trusted.
To decode the data, the client will need the secret key. This means that you will need to send the secret key to the client, which is not ideal from a security standpoint.
Both OAuth and JWT have their advantages and disadvantages. OAuth is more secure but JWT is easier to implement. In this article, we have learned how to use both OAuth and JWT to secure a backend application.