How do you show your web app security skills?

1 Learn the basics

Before you can show your web app security skills, you need to learn the fundamentals of web development, web protocols, and web vulnerabilities. You should be familiar with common web technologies, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, and HTTP, and how they interact with each other. You should also understand the main types of web attacks, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, and broken authentication, and how to prevent or mitigate them. You can learn the basics of web app security from online courses, books, blogs, podcasts, or webinars.

2 Practice on labs and challenges

One of the best ways to show your web app security skills is to practice them on realistic scenarios and challenges. You can find many online platforms and resources that offer web app security labs and challenges, such as Hack The Box, PortSwigger Web Security Academy, OWASP Juice Shop, and PentesterLab. These platforms allow you to test your skills on various web app security topics, such as web app penetration testing, web app vulnerability assessment, web app security auditing, and web app security coding. You can also earn badges, certificates, or points that you can display on your resume, portfolio, or social media.

3 Build your own projects

Another way to show your web app security skills is to build your own web app projects that demonstrate your knowledge and creativity. You can create your own web app from scratch, using your preferred web technologies and frameworks, or modify an existing web app to improve its security features. You can also create your own web app security tools, such as scanners, fuzzers, proxies, or exploit generators. You can showcase your web app projects on your personal website, GitHub, or YouTube, and explain how you implemented web app security best practices and techniques.

4 Participate in bug bounties and CTFs

If you want to show your web app security skills in a competitive and rewarding way, you can participate in bug bounties and capture the flag (CTF) competitions. Bug bounties are programs that pay hackers for finding and reporting web app vulnerabilities on real-world websites and applications. CTFs are contests that challenge hackers to solve web app security puzzles and capture flags. Both bug bounties and CTFs can help you improve your web app security skills, gain recognition, and earn money or prizes. You can find bug bounties and CTFs on platforms such as HackerOne, Bugcrowd, HackenProof, and CTFTime.

5 Join the community

The last tip to show your web app security skills is to join the web app security community and network with other cybersecurity professionals and enthusiasts. You can join online forums, groups, chats, or events that focus on web app security topics, such as Stack Overflow, Reddit, Discord, Slack, or Meetup. You can also follow web app security influencers, experts, or mentors on social media, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, or Medium. By joining the community, you can learn from others, share your insights, ask questions, give feedback, and find opportunities.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?