computer science

OWASP

OWASP is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand OWASP rather than just read about it. In short: OWASP, the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (formerly Open Web Application Security Project), is an online community that publishes open-source information and resources on IoT, system software and web application security. It is led by a non-profit called The OWASP Foundation.

Key takeaways

OWASP belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect OWASP to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of OWASP from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

OWASP, the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (formerly Open Web Application Security Project), is an online community that publishes open-source information and resources on IoT, system software and web application security. It is led by a non-profit called The OWASP Foundation.

History Mark Curphey started OWASP on September 9, 2001. Jeff Williams served as the volunteer Chair of OWASP from late 2003 until September 2011. As of 2015, Matt Konda chaired the Board. The OWASP Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US established in 2004, supports the OWASP infrastructure and projects. Since 2011, OWASP is also registered as a non-profit organization in Belgium under the name of OWASP Europe VZW. In February 2023, it was reported by Bil Corry, a OWASP Foundation Global Board of Directors officer, on Twitter that the board had voted for renaming from the Open Web Application Security Project to its current name, replacing Web with Worldwide. In May 2023, the OWASP Gen AI Security Project was started to expand the scope of the OWASP Top 10 List to document the most critical risks associated with LLMs.

Resources

Tools OWASP ZAP: a penetration testing tool. Webgoat: a deliberately insecure web application created by OWASP as a guide for secure programming practices.

Publications OWASP Top Ten The "Top Ten", first published in 2003 and updated periodically (subsequent editions appeared in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025), is a listing of the most critical application security risks. The 2025 edition introduced new categories including software supply chain failures. Many standards, books, tools, and many organizations reference the Top 10 project, including MITRE, PCI DSS, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA-STIG), and the United States Federal Trade Commission. OWASP Development Guide OWASP Testing Guide OWASP Code Review Guide OWASP Top 10 Incident Response Guidance.

Models and standards OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS): A standard for performing application-level security verifications.

Other projects OWASP XML Security Gateway (XSG) Evaluation Criteria Project. OWASP AppSec Pipeline OWASP Automated Threats to Web Applications OWASP API Security Project OWASP AI Maturity Assessment Project (AIMA)

Certifications OWASP offers several professional security certifications focused on web application security, including the OWASP Top 10 certification which validates knowledge of the most critical web application security risks, the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) certification for secure coding practices, the OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM) certification for organizational security maturity assessment, and the OWASP Security Knowledge Framework (SKF) certification for security awareness training. These certifications help professionals demonstrate expertise in secure development, testing, and application security management across different organizational roles and technical disciplines.

See also Open Source Security Foundation Application security Mobile security Common Weakness Enumeration

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with OWASP

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what OWASP claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to OWASP before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about OWASP ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of OWASP

In research: OWASP appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses OWASP in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: OWASP is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2001 establishments in Belgium, 501(c)(3) organizations, Computer security organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for OWASP outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study OWASP in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what OWASP means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain OWASP out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is OWASP in simple terms?

Why does OWASP matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study OWASP?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on OWASP.