Security Guidebook for Indie Hackers and Vibecoders

🚨 Your credentials WILL leak. Your app WILL be targeted. Are you ready?

60% of small companies close within 6 months of a cyberattack. Don't become a statistic.

Why This Guide Exists

The Tea app hit #1 on the App Store with 1.6M users—then lost 72,000 images including 13,000 government IDs to a simple Firebase misconfiguration. ShipFast, the popular Next.js boilerplate sold to thousands of developers, shipped with critical vulnerabilities that propagated to every customer's production app.

The brutal truth: Indie hackers are being targeted 4x more than large organizations, but 51% still have zero cybersecurity measures in place.

What You Get (4,255+ Words of Battle-Tested Security)

🔍 Real Breach Analysis

• Complete breakdown of recent indie hacker disasters (Tea app, ShipFast, Firebase epidemic)
• Exact technical failures and how to prevent them
• Real cost examples: $2,847 AWS bills, $1,200 OpenAI abuse, complete data theft

⚡ OWASP Top 10 for Indie Developers

• Each vulnerability explained with code examples
• Why 94% of apps contain these flaws
• Budget-friendly fixes using free tools
• Testing procedures you can run today

🔐 Complete .env Security Masterclass

• Step-by-step secure environment setup
• 15-minute emergency response playbook for exposed credentials
• Modern Git cleanup using git filter-repo (not outdated filter-branch)
• Service-specific rotation procedures with direct links (AWS, OpenAI, Stripe, GitHub)

🎯 Threat Modeling for Solopreneurs

• 15-minute framework to identify your real risks
• "Who would target me?" reality check by business stage ($0-$1K, $1K-$10K, $10K+ MRR)
• Simple attack scenario mapping by app type
• Security budget allocation guide for bootstrapped budgets

🛠️ Free Security Tools Arsenal

• 20+ immediately actionable tools (OWASP ZAP, Nuclei, Wazuh, GitGuardian)
• Integration guides for popular tech stacks
• Monitoring and alerting configurations

📋 Complete Pre-Launch Security Checklist

• Authentication and session management fundamentals
• Data protection essentials (HTTPS, encryption, backups)
• Input validation and output encoding
• Security headers and configurations
• Logging and monitoring setup

🚨 Solo Developer Incident Response

• Crisis communication templates
• Evidence collection procedures
• Customer notification scripts
• Post-incident improvement frameworks

🎓 Security Literacy Crash Course

• 20 essential terms explained in plain English (JWT, CSP, RBAC, MFA, XSS, CSRF)
• Attack scenarios in story format
• Red flags that indicate security problems
• Trusted security news sources worth following

📱 App-Specific Security Strategies

• SaaS web applications (authentication, APIs, data encryption)
• Mobile apps (OWASP Mobile Top 10, certificate pinning)
• E-commerce platforms (PCI DSS compliance, payment security)
• AI/automation tools (prompt injection, model theft prevention)
• No-code/low-code applications (hidden risks, OWASP Low-Code Top 10)

Emergency Response Kit Included

When your API keys leak at 2 AM, you need immediate action:

• 0-5 minutes: Stop the bleeding with exact Git commands
• 5-15 minutes: Clean history completely using modern tools
• 15-60 minutes: Rotate ALL credentials with direct service links
• Timeline of exposure risks (scanners find secrets in 15 minutes)

More comprehensive guide available for FREE onbuymeacoffee

Who This Is For

✅ Solo developers building SaaS, mobile apps, or web services
✅ Indie hackers who need to ship fast AND secure
✅ Small dev teams without dedicated security personnel
✅ Anyone who's ever pushed an API key to GitHub (we've all been there)
✅ Developers tired of security being an afterthought

❌ Large enterprises with security teams (this is for scrappy builders)
❌ People looking for academic security theory (this is 100% practical)

The Stakes Are Real

Recent breach costs:

• Average small business breach: $120K - $1.24M
• 47% of breaches caused by negligence
• 110,000+ domains with exposed .env files found by researchers
• One exposed API key can cost more than this entire guide

Instant Access

📱 Mobile-optimized GDocs - Read on any device during crises
🔍 Fully searchable - Find answers fast when seconds count

🛡️ Secure your indie hacker journey. Download now.

File Details:

• Format: Google Docs
• Size: ~17 pages
• Word count: 4,255+ words
• Last updated: September 2025
• Compatible: All devices
• Language: English
• Author: Timo (@TimoCodes)

This concise but comprehensive guide will help developers prevent monetary losses in potential breach costs. Join the indie hackers who sleep better knowing their apps are secure.