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Comment by bkeroack | Hacker News Reader

Secure software isn't useful? Insecure software isn't eventually value-destroying?

Really what this sub-thread is arguing is that security Isn't My Job(TM) as application developer. I disagree. Furthermore telling app devs not to worry about it because nginx takes care of everything is a false security blanket that will bite you eventually.

Not accepting unbound input and sane rate-limiting are kind of basic stuff, no? I'm not saying every app developer needs to be a Defcon wizard, just that they should have some fundamental awareness of secure coding standards for web apps if that's what they're building.

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> Secure software isn't useful?

Nowhere in the sub-thread is this claimed.

> Insecure software isn't eventually value-destroying?

Nowhere in this sub-thread is anyone suggesting otherwise.

> Furthermore telling app devs not to worry about it because nginx takes care of everything is a false security blanket that will bite you eventually.

Nobody said this. But while we're on the topic the more likely false security blanket comes from telling app devs "just use 'net/http' and 'crypto/tls' and everything will be fine without a reverse proxy."

In any case the straw men you've raised are distracting and not driving the conversation forward.

> > Furthermore telling app devs not to worry about it because nginx takes care of everything is a false security blanket that will bite you eventually.

> Nobody said this.

That seems dishonest to say... From the grandparent:

> Or... you spend your time building something useful, leveraging skills you do have, and let nginx leverage its own strengths.

Really sounds like at least one person in this thread is advocating for app devs not to worry about things that nginx takes care of.

Agree that making straw men doesn't help. There's advice on either side regarding which one to use and realistically both are equally 'false security blankets'. The correct answer is to educate yourself on the benefit and drawbacks of each and make a conscious decision about where to implement your security.

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