Security Best Practices
Overview
Security is critical for desktop applications. Follow these practices to keep your application secure.
Input Validation
Always Validate
func (s *UserService) CreateUser(email, password string) (*User, error) {
// Validate email
if !isValidEmail(email) {
return nil, errors.New("invalid email")
}
// Validate password strength
if len(password) < 8 {
return nil, errors.New("password too short")
}
// Sanitise input
email = strings.TrimSpace(email)
email = html.EscapeString(email)
// Continue...
}Sanitise HTML
import "html"
func (s *Service) SaveComment(text string) error {
// Escape HTML
text = html.EscapeString(text)
// Validate length
if len(text) > 1000 {
return errors.New("comment too long")
}
return s.db.Save(text)
}Authentication
Secure Password Storage
import "golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt"
func hashPassword(password string) (string, error) {
hash, err := bcrypt.GenerateFromPassword([]byte(password), bcrypt.DefaultCost)
return string(hash), err
}
func verifyPassword(hash, password string) bool {
err := bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword([]byte(hash), []byte(password))
return err == nil
}Session Management
type Session struct {
UserID int
Token string
ExpiresAt time.Time
}
func (a *AuthService) CreateSession(userID int) (*Session, error) {
token := generateSecureToken()
session := &Session{
UserID: userID,
Token: token,
ExpiresAt: time.Now().Add(24 * time.Hour),
}
return session, a.saveSession(session)
}Data Protection
Encrypt Sensitive Data
import "crypto/aes"
import "crypto/cipher"
func encrypt(data []byte, key []byte) ([]byte, error) {
block, err := aes.NewCipher(key)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
gcm, err := cipher.NewGCM(block)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
nonce := make([]byte, gcm.NonceSize())
return gcm.Seal(nonce, nonce, data, nil), nil
}Secure Storage
// Use OS keychain for sensitive data
import "github.com/zalando/go-keyring"
func saveAPIKey(key string) error {
return keyring.Set("myapp", "api_key", key)
}
func getAPIKey() (string, error) {
return keyring.Get("myapp", "api_key")
}Network Security
Use HTTPS
func makeAPICall(url string) (*Response, error) {
// Always use HTTPS
if !strings.HasPrefix(url, "https://") {
return nil, errors.New("only HTTPS allowed")
}
return http.Get(url)
}Verify Certificates
import "crypto/tls"
func secureClient() *http.Client {
return &http.Client{
Transport: &http.Transport{
TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{
MinVersion: tls.VersionTLS12,
},
},
}
}File Operations
Validate Paths
func readFile(path string) ([]byte, error) {
// Prevent path traversal
if strings.Contains(path, "..") {
return nil, errors.New("invalid path")
}
// Check file exists in allowed directory
absPath, err := filepath.Abs(path)
if err != nil {
return nil, err
}
if !strings.HasPrefix(absPath, allowedDir) {
return nil, errors.New("access denied")
}
return os.ReadFile(absPath)
}Rate Limiting
type RateLimiter struct {
requests map[string][]time.Time
mu sync.Mutex
limit int
window time.Duration
}
func (r *RateLimiter) Allow(key string) bool {
r.mu.Lock()
defer r.mu.Unlock()
now := time.Now()
// Clean old requests
var recent []time.Time
for _, t := range r.requests[key] {
if now.Sub(t) < r.window {
recent = append(recent, t)
}
}
if len(recent) >= r.limit {
return false
}
r.requests[key] = append(recent, now)
return true
}Best Practices
✅ Do
- Validate all input
- Use HTTPS for network calls
- Encrypt sensitive data
- Use secure password hashing
- Implement rate limiting
- Keep dependencies updated
- Log security events
- Use OS keychains
❌ Don’t
- Don’t trust user input
- Don’t store passwords in plain text
- Don’t hardcode secrets
- Don’t skip certificate verification
- Don’t expose sensitive data in logs
- Don’t use weak encryption
- Don’t ignore security updates
Security Checklist
- All user input validated
- Passwords hashed with bcrypt
- Sensitive data encrypted
- HTTPS used for all network calls
- Rate limiting implemented
- File paths validated
- Dependencies up to date
- Security logging enabled
- Error messages don’t leak info
- Code reviewed for vulnerabilities
Next Steps
- Architecture - Application architecture patterns
- Best Practices - Bindings best practices