Re: HTTP POST in default browser
Sabine Dinis Blochberger wrote:
Daniel Pitts wrote:
Sabine Dinis Blochberger wrote:
Steven Simpson wrote:
Sabine Dinis Blochberger wrote:
I also know it's possible to make a POST request in my application, but
it is not a browser, nor will it ever be one. I don't think I can open
the browser with the response from this.
There's a certain redirection code (303 See Other) which can be used as
a POST response and means "GET xxx". If you have control of the server
and can make it send that, maybe you can just pass the resulting address
to the browser.
<http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html#sec10.3.4>
The POST is sort of a login. It's not secure by necessity.
303 might not work if the POSTer and the GETter have to be the same
client, as you might expect from a login.
Thanks for the tip. We're going the GET route and MD5 the passphrase
string.
you might as well send it plain text. MD5 is not encryption, its a hash.
Someone could simply steel the MD5, and use it to log in.
I'm aware. Like I said, it is not necessary, because the information is
not sensitive (enough). There's another obscuring "trick" we use in the
parameter name.
Just enough to keep the users from trying funny things, I suppose.
Security through obscurity is like having a poorly hidden-door with no
lock and no guards. Someone is likely to notice it and then you have
nothing left in place.
If it is worth putting any kind of security, it is worth putting in the
correct kind of security.
At the very least, you should try to have the server provide some sort
of secret "salt" that depends on session state. You can use POST in
Java to do the log-in, and then have a session token returned to you (in
HTTPS ofcourse), and have that session token be sent to a GET request.
--
Daniel Pitts' Tech Blog: <http://virtualinfinity.net/wordpress/>
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