Ensuring Security

Introduction

Ensuring the security of your Django application is paramount to protect sensitive user data and maintain overall system integrity. This guide outlines key security practices to fortify your Django project against potential threats.

1. Use HTTPS

Secure data transmission by enforcing HTTPS. Update your settings.py :

SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True

pip install --upgrade django

3. Implement Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Protection

Django provides built-in CSRF protection, enabled by default. Ensure it's active in your HTML forms :

{% csrf_token %}

4. Secure Passwords

Enhance password security by using Django's built-in validators. Include this in your settings.py :

AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator'},
    {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator'},
]

5. Guard Against SQL Injection

Django's ORM protects against SQL injection. Always use parameterized queries:

Entry.objects.raw('SELECT * FROM blog_entry WHERE headline = %s', [value])

6. Enable Content Security Policy (CSP)

Defend against XSS attacks with Content Security Policy. Add the middleware:

MIDDLEWARE = [
    # ...
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
]

SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER = True
X_FRAME_OPTIONS = 'DENY'

from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError

def validate_file_type(value):
    if not value.name.endswith('.pdf'):
        raise ValidationError('Only PDF files are allowed.')

class MyModel(models.Model):
    file = models.FileField(upload_to='uploads/', validators=[validate_file_type])

# settings.py
LOGIN_ATTEMPTS_LIMIT = 5)

9. Regularly Monitor and Audit

Implement logging and monitoring to detect suspicious activities:

# settings.py

LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'handlers': {
        'file': {
            'level': 'DEBUG',
            'class': 'logging.FileHandler',
            'filename': 'debug.log',
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'django': {
            'handlers': ['file'],
            'level': 'DEBUG',
            'propagate': True,
        },
    },
}