Category
security
4 articles in this category
System Design Advanced: Security, Rate Limiting, and Reliability
TLDR: Three reliability tools every backend system needs: Rate Limiting prevents API spam and DDoS, Circuit Breakers stop cascading failures when downstream services degrade, and Bulkheads isolate failure blast radius. Knowing when and how to combine...
X.509 Certificates: A Deep Dive into How They Work
TLDR: An X.509 Certificate is a digital document that binds a Public Key to an Identity (e.g., google.com). It is digitally signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). It prevents attackers from impersonating websites via man-in-the-middle attack...
How SSL/TLS Works: The Handshake Explained
TLDR: SSL (now TLS) secures data between your browser and a server. It uses Asymmetric Encryption (Public/Private keys) once ā to safely exchange a fast Symmetric Session Key. Everything after the handshake is encrypted with the session key. š The...
How OAuth 2.0 Works: The Valet Key Pattern
TLDR: OAuth 2.0 is an authorization protocol. It lets a third-party app (like Spotify) access your resources (like Facebook Friends) without you giving it your Facebook password. It uses short-lived Access Tokens as scoped, revocable keys. š The V...