I wrote an introduction to Open Redirect vulnerabilities and how they might affect your Laravel application. The post contains examples and how you avoid the most common mistakes. It’s published on the StackHawk blog and can be viewed here. Laravel Open Redirect Security Guide Laravel Open Redirect Security Guide

I wrote an introductory post on Open Redirect vulnerabilities and how they can affect your NodeJS application. The post contains examples using NodeJS and covers possible solutions you can adopt to safeguard your application. It’s published on the StackHawk blog and can be viewed here. NodeJS Open Redirect Guide: Examples and Prevention NodeJS Open Redirect Guide: Examples and Prevention

I wrote about Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and the damage it may cause your users if your application is vulnerable. I used a Vue app as an example and provide tips on how to protect your application. The post is published on the StackHawk blog and can be viewed here. Vue CSRF Protection Guide: Examples and Solutions Vue CSRF Protection Guide: Examples and Solutions

I wrote about XSS attack vectors and how you can inadvertently make yourself vulnerable when using Vue.js. The post has examples and discusses different approaches that you can adopt to protect yourself. It’s published on the StackHawk blog and can be viewed here. Vue XSS Guide: Examples and Prevention Vue XSS Guide: Examples and Prevention

I wrote a post about Microservices and a few basic concepts related to this software architecture pattern. The post takes a high-level view of the concepts you should familiarize yourself with before deciding whether microservices are a good fit for your solution domain and organization. It’s published on the Plutora blog and can be read here. Microservices Architecture: An Engineer’s ...

I wrote a beginner-level post on Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF). The post is part of a series of introductions to basic vulnerabilities that are easy to avoid. It uses Laravel as the framework and covers the basics about the vulnerability and steps you can take to avoid it. It’s published on the StackHawk blog and can be viewed here. Laravel ...

There are over 300,000,000 results for the search term "how to secure WordPress site", and many of them give you decent tips on how to protect your existing WordPress installation. There could be some good tips there. But they won't really give you an answer to your actual question of "How do I run a WordPress installation while paying it ...

Gapstars (we're hiring!) recently held a recruitment drive and I screened candidates for PHP-related roles. I was doing a quick 20 - 30 minute call to get a feel for the candidate. The aim of this interview was to quickly gauge whether the candidate was a good fit for the organization and then move them up the interview pipeline. The ...

Rentman held a hackathon recently where the goal was to try out new tech and take on roles that you normally wouldn't. I mostly work with PHP in the back-end so thought I'd try out NodeJS with a framework that I was unfamiliar with, enter Feathers JS. Feathers is a lightweight web-framework for creating real-time applications and REST APIs using ...

I got my first computer when I was 13 years old. I've been programming for about 22 years and I've been paid to program for about 13 years now. I'm an AWS certified Solutions Architect (Associate). I co-founded a startup and designed and developed the technical solution for six years. I'm currently a senior tech lead. I'm also a giant ...

I recently did a presentation on scalable architectures at the Gapstars hosted Explorer Series 2.0 event. It was an introduction to a topic that I'd been learning more about in the last few years and it was pretty fun to share what I'd learned with more people. It also made me think about writing longer articles on the specific topics ...

I switch between Windows and Mac quite regularly because I use a Mac for work and Windows when I'm at home. I've gone through many different keyboards but for the past year or so I've primarily been working on a Keychron K10. It's great because it can switch between Mac and Windows mode so I don't need to remap any ...

Recently I ran into the problem of needing to switch the module part of a request depending on the hostname. I needed to do this because I plugged in a whitelabeling solution to our existing web application. When the request comes in, I needed to switch from the default module to the whitelabel module so that app routing would work. ...

I used to have a work / technical blog. But then I got bored of it and took it down after a while. It’s been a couple of years since that happened and now I find myself constantly wanting to write down the things that are going through my mind. Mostly for my own reference (what better way to learn ...