Secura – A Model-Driven Solution for Rapid Security Configuration of Web Applications

The challenges of securing web applications stem from their intricacy and susceptibility to errors, primarily because of the manual code customizations required to ensure adequate security measures for each new application. This paper introduces Secura, a Model-Driven solution that utilizes the SecuraDSL language and corresponding Secura generators to address these challenges. SecuraDSL is a domain-specific language designed to facilitate the definition of web application models that incorporate security parameters and general application characteristics. It enables software developers to create these models quickly, efficiently, and in a formal way. By automatically processing details from such formal models, multiple purpose-specific Secura generators can automate the creation of executable code for web applications with configured security aspects. With this approach, customized and error-resistant secure web applications can be rapidly created, enhancing productivity and reliability. Due to its architectural setup, the Secura solution remains flexible for extension with additional security mechanisms, programming languages, and frameworks. The flexibility for extension ensures the adaptability of this solution to evolving security standards and diverse programming environments.