What is the OWASP Top Ten and why does it matter?

The Open Web Application Security Project Top Ten is a periodically updated list of the most critical web application security risks. It serves as an awareness document and a starting point for secure development. Key entries include broken access control, where users can act beyond their intended permissions; cryptographic failures, where sensitive data is inadequately protected; injection, where untrusted input is sent to an interpreter; and security misconfiguration, where default or incomplete configurations create vulnerabilities.