Session hijacking is a serious security threat in web applications. It occurs when an attacker gains unauthorized access to a user’s session. To handle and prevent session hijacking, there are several important measures you can take:
1. Use SSL/TLS: Implementing secure communication through HTTPS helps encrypt data exchanged between the client and the server, making it difficult for attackers to intercept.
2. Use secure session management techniques: Generate strong and random session IDs, avoid exposing them in URLs, and make sure session cookies have the ‘secure’ and ‘httponly’ flags set.
3. Implement session expiration: Set an appropriate session timeout to invalidate sessions after a certain period of inactivity.
4. Implement IP validation: Track the user’s IP address during the session and validate it to detect and prevent session hijacking attempts.
5. Employ a secure coding practice: Ensure your code is free from common vulnerabilities like cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection, which can be used to exploit sessions.
By following these measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of session hijacking in your web application.