Overview

What this document covers

This presentation-style web page summarizes design and security best practices for the Itrustcapital login experience. It focuses on user flows, server-side considerations, front-end accessibility, and practical implementation tips for web developers. The goal: create a secure, user-friendly login that resists common attacks while remaining maintainable and testable.

Audience

Front-end and back-end engineers, security engineers, product managers, and QA engineers working on authentication.

Functional Requirements

Core user flow

  • Users must reach the login page from a secure, bookmarked domain (HTTPS + HSTS).
  • Support username/email + password flow, plus MFA options (TOTP, SMS backup, hardware keys).
  • Clear error messaging without leaking sensitive information (e.g., “invalid credentials” vs “user not found”).

Developer notes

Design small, testable components and keep UI state separate from authentication state provided by the server.

Front-end (Webdev) Implementation

HTML structure & accessibility

Use semantic HTML. The login form should have proper labels, aria attributes, and keyboard focus order. Provide visible focus outlines for form fields and ensure color contrast meets WCAG AA.

Example form structure

<form action="/auth/login" method="post" autocomplete="on" aria-describedby="login-help">
  <label for="identifier">Email or username</label>
  <input id="identifier" name="identifier" type="text" required />
  <label for="password">Password</label>
  <input id="password" name="password" type="password" autocomplete="current-password" required />
  <button type="submit">Sign in</button>
</form>
Progressive enhancement

Make the form work without JavaScript, then layer client-side validation and helpful UX enhancements (e.g., show/hide password) on top.

Back-end & Security Controls

Encryption and storage

Store passwords using a strong adaptive hashing function (e.g., Argon2id or bcrypt with an appropriate cost). Never store plaintext or reversible encrypted passwords.

Sessions & tokens

Prefer server-side session identifiers with secure, httpOnly cookies; use SameSite=strict for sensitive operations. If issuing JWTs, keep them short-lived and validate server-side revocation lists.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Recommended approaches

  • Primary: TOTP (RFC 6238) apps such as Google Authenticator or Authy.
  • Secondary options: SMS for backup (with clear phishing cautions) and WebAuthn for hardware-backed keys.

Implementation tip

Always allow users to register multiple methods and provide a secure account recovery path that still protects against social engineering.

Resilience & Attack Mitigation

Rate limiting & monitoring

Implement per-IP and per-account rate limits for login attempts, instrument audit logs, and alert on abnormal patterns. Consider CAPTCHAs only after suspicious behavior is detected.

Brute force & credential stuffing

Use device fingerprinting and progressive delays on repeated failures; lockouts should be measured and accompanied by user notification emails.

Privacy & Compliance

Data minimization

Only collect data necessary for authentication or compliance. Provide clear privacy notices and give users a way to review active sessions and revoke devices.

Auditability

Keep immutable logs for authentication events (with redaction where necessary) and retain them according to your policy and local law.

User Experience & Error Handling

Helpful, safe feedback

Avoid revealing whether a username exists during login attempts. After successful sign-in, present a post-login security checklist: confirm devices, review recent activity, enable MFA.

Accessibility reminders

Ensure screen-reader-friendly announcements for errors and success states (use ARIA live regions), and design forms that work on small screens and assistive tech.

Testing & Continuous Improvement

Automated and manual tests

Build integration tests for authentication endpoints, run automatic security scans, and perform periodic manual penetration tests focused on auth flow and account recovery.

Telemetry

Gather anonymized metrics about login success rates, MFA adoption, and time-to-login to guide UX and security tradeoffs.