Secure Error Handling - Preventing Information Leakage

The Error Message Problem

Error messages are designed to help developers debug. But in production, detailed errors help attackers more than they help users.

What Attackers Learn from Error Messages

Database structure:

Error: column 'credit_cards.number' does not exist

→ Attacker now knows you have a credit_cards table

File paths:

Error at /var/www/app/lib/payment.js:47

→ Attacker learns your directory structure