Hi, I’m Nick Van Haver and I want to reflect briefly on my master thesis which I have worked out in cooperation with NVISO and the Ghent University. NVISO helped me in many ways while providing me with a lot of freedom to choose the course of my thesis. They showed me a lot of trust and respect, which I truly appreciate.
The topic of my thesis research was “The Detection of Client-side Vulnerabilities in Web Applications through the Browser”. This topic is deeply rooted in the field of web application security, and thus lead me far beyond its basics. At first I had quite some experience with the development of web applications, but far less with relation to their security aspects.
When looking into a new field or topic, it is hard to find the right sources and high quality references. The right resources can turn a week’s worth of work into a single day. NVISO provided me with these resources and handed me tools, enabling me to educate myself in the web application security field and to make the most out of my thesis. Thanks to NVISO, I had contact with some of the big names in the industry such as Google, Minded Security, Portswigger and many others. Furthermore they assisted me with their expertise in security during meetings.
In the end, my research resulted in a fairly high score of 16 out of 20. Because of these grades I graduated magna cum laude as a Civil Engineer in Computer Sciences. At the beginning of my thesis my knowledge on web application security was rather limited. Now I feel accomplished in this field of security and I now know where to find the most correct information when dealing with web application vulnerabilities. I now also feel more confident when contacting external parties.
I can highly recommend working with NVISO. Choosing to work together with them for your master thesis ensures you that the topic will be both challenging and interesting. You will receive the support and resources you need to achieve your goal. It really is a worthwhile experience! Once the results of my thesis are public, they will be shared with the community!