Understanding @EnableWebSecurity in Spring Security

Introduction

Spring Security is a robust framework for delivering authentication, authorisation, and other security capabilities to Java applications. @EnableWebSecurity is one of Spring Security’s essential annotations. Understanding this annotation is critical for developers looking to secure their online apps.

What is @EnableWebSecurity?

The @EnableWebSecurity annotation enables Spring Security’s web security features in a Spring Boot application. When this annotation is applied to a configuration class, it activates Spring’s web security functionality, allowing you to set security policies for your web application.

How @EnableWebSecurity Works

When you annotate a class with @EnableWebSecurity, it does the following actions:

1. Security Configuration Setup: The annotation allows for the establishment of a Spring Security configuration, which is commonly achieved by extending the WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter class. This allows you to change the security settings, including authentication methods, access restriction, and more.

2. Integration with Spring’s Security Filter Chain: The Spring Security filter chain is immediately registered in your application. This filter chain intercepts incoming HTTP requests and enforces the specified security standards.

3. Dependency Injection: You may easily handle authorisation and authentication logic by…