HIGAET Application Security
Learn secure coding, authentication design, and defensive testing while building threat models, code reviews, and pipeline checks for sample applications.
Duration
8 weeks · 6-8 hours/week
Level
Intermediate
Delivery
Online
Status
Open for enrollment
Why this technology matters.
Application security is the discipline of building software that resists abuse — from broken authentication to injection flaws. It matters now because web applications and APIs handle sensitive data and are constantly probed for weaknesses. This course teaches defensive coding and testing habits using sample applications you can safely break and fix in a lab.
You will use these habits in software teams: threat modeling a web app or API, designing secure authentication and session handling, and adding input validation and output encoding defenses. This solves whole classes of preventable flaws before they reach production. It does not solve everything: threat models do not fix unpatched libraries by themselves, code review does not fix missing security requirements, and pipeline checks do not fix flawed business logic.
By the end you will be able to build a threat model for a sample web application and API, a secure authentication and session-handling control set, and a lab pipeline with static and dependency checks plus input validation defenses.
Why this course exists
The gap is between writing features that work and shipping software that withstands hostile input. This course closes it with an arc from design to code to verification: model threats, implement authentication and validation controls, then wire static and dependency checks into a lab pipeline so flaws are caught early and repeatably.
Know exactly what you're signing up for.
Who is this for
Prerequisites
- Comfort reading Python or JavaScript code
- Basic understanding of web apps and APIs
- Familiarity with HTTP requests and sessions
Technologies & tools
Skills you'll gain
A 8 weeks arc, module by module.
- Module 01
Module 01 — Foundations: Application risks and secure design principles
- Module 02
Module 02 — Threat Modeling: Assets, trust boundaries, and abuse cases
- Module 03
Module 03 — Identity: Authentication, sessions, and password defense
- Module 04
Module 04 — Core: Input handling, injection defenses, and encoding
- Module 05
Module 05 — Engineering: Access control and API security patterns
- Module 06
Module 06 — Pipeline Checks: Static analysis and dependency review
- Module 07
Module 07 — Defensive Testing: Controlled review and report writing
- Module 08
Module 08 — Capstone: Secured sample app with threat model and checks
Practical Training Flow
Learning → Guided Labs → Independent Practice → Industry Project → Capstone → Portfolio → Career Preparation. Practical hours are tracked alongside instructional hours and surfaced on the certificate.
Delivery as HIGAET Practical Training / Experiential Learning.
What you'll be able to do.
- Build threat models for sample web applications and APIs
- Design secure authentication and session handling controls
- Develop input validation and output encoding defenses
- Deploy static and dependency checks in a lab pipeline
- Integrate security headers and defensive error handling
- Evaluate common web risks using defensive review checklists
- Secure APIs with authorization checks and rate controls
- Automate security test summaries for developer review
You will build.
Every project ships as HIGAET Practical Training / Experiential Learning — portfolio-ready work, not exercises.
- Project 01
Web app and API threat model
- Project 02
Secure authentication and session design
- Project 03
Input validation and output encoding defenses
- Project 04
Lab pipeline with static and dependency checks
- Capstone
Secured sample app with threat model, auth controls, and pipeline checks
Speak the language first.
- Threat modeling
- A structured walkthrough of how a sample app could be misused, used to pick defenses before coding.
- Secure authentication
- Verifying user identity with strong password handling, multi-factor options, and safe credential storage.
- Session management
- Creating, storing, and expiring user login sessions safely so they cannot be reused by others.
- Input validation
- Checking user-supplied data against expected rules on the server before the app acts on it.
- Output encoding
- Converting app output so browsers treat data as text rather than executable code, reducing injection effects.
- Static application testing
- Automated scanning of source code for risky patterns without running the program.
- Dependency scanning
- Checking third-party libraries used by an app for known vulnerabilities and safer versions.
- Security pipeline gate
- A checkpoint in the build process that blocks release when security checks fail.
- Security code review
- A focused peer review that looks for authentication, validation, and data-handling flaws with fix notes.
Fix, check, and go deeper.
Troubleshooting & common mistakes
Threat model misses important parts of the sample app
Redraw the data-flow diagram to include all inputs, APIs, and data stores, then revisit each trust boundary for misuse cases.
Users get logged out unexpectedly after session control changes
Check session timeout, cookie flags, and clock settings, then align them with the design and retest login and idle-expiry flows.
Valid user input is rejected by new validation rules
Review server-side allowlists against real expected formats, adjust the rule narrowly, and add test cases for valid and invalid examples.
Static scan floods the pipeline with low-value warnings
Prioritize high-confidence rules first, suppress documented false positives with reasons, and track remaining items to fix.
Dependency scan flags a library with no safe upgrade available
Check the advisory for mitigations, isolate the affected feature if possible, and schedule rechecks until a patched version is released.
Security gate blocks every build after a pipeline change
Run each check separately to find the failing step, correct its configuration or threshold, and rerun on a known-good commit.
Before you move on, you should be able to
- Explain common application risks and defensive design choices
- Build threat models for sample web applications and APIs
- Design secure authentication and session handling controls
- Build input validation and output encoding defenses
- Evaluate static and dependency scan findings for fixes
- Deploy pipeline checks that gate releases on security results
Start your application.
Share a few details and a HIGAET advisor will reach out within one business day with next steps.
Common questions
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