A hybrid fuzzy rule-based multi-criteria framework for sustainable-security assessment of web application

Abstract

The present day environment of cyber-attacks is a threat to even the most secure systems. With each passing day, the attackers are adapting new technologies to infiltrate systems and exploit even the minutest of the vulnerabilities. In such a scenario, it is imperative to design and develop web applications that are not only secure but sustainable as well. While security is the most defined feature of a web application, sustainability also must be prioritized because any web application will be more efficacious if it proffers both to the users. In this league, it is imperative to reckon in on mechanisms that can effectively evaluate the web applications’ sustainable–security during the development process. To achieve the high level of sustainable-security in web applications, this contribution has used the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP) for evaluating the efficacy of the overall sustainable-security and its characteristics. Furthermore, the study tests the Fuzzy AHP method on ten successive versions of an institutional web application to corroborate the efficiency of this approach. Despite the web application's sensitivity, this study has used various versions of three web applications of the university. Results have been conclusive and far more effective when compared to the existing processes for testing the sustainable–security of web applications. Besides saving upon the time and resource investments, the mechanism proposed in our study seeks to set a template which the web developers can adhere to for optimizing on the sustainable-security while developing the web applications.