Enhancing Web Application Security with Idle Timers

Why Idle Timers Matter

Idle timers are crucial for applications that handle sensitive user information. By signing out inactive users, you can prevent unauthorized access and protect your users’ data. Additionally, idle timers can help improve application performance by reducing unnecessary backend requests.

Getting Started with React Idle Timer

To get started, create a new React application and install the react-idle-timer package using npm or yarn. Then, import the package in your application and create a custom hook to handle idle detection.

Creating a Custom Idle Detection Hook

Create a new file called useIdleTimeout.js and add the following code:

import { useIdleTimer } from 'react-idle-timer';

const useIdleTimeout = (onIdle, idleTime) => {
  const [isIdle, setIsIdle] = useState(false);

  useIdleTimer({
    timeout: idleTime,
    onPrompt: () => console.log('User is idle'),
    onIdle: onIdle,
  });

  return [isIdle, setIsIdle];
};

export default useIdleTimeout;

Using the Idle Detection Custom Hook

Now that we have our custom hook, let’s use it in our application. Update your HomePage component to include the following code:

import useIdleTimeout from './useIdleTimeout';

const HomePage = () => {
  const [isIdle, setIsIdle] = useIdleTimeout(() => {
    // Sign out the user when they are idle
  }, 30000); // 30 seconds

  return (
    <div>
      {isIdle ? (
        <p>User is idle</p>
      ) : (
        <p>User is active</p>
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

Handling User Interactions

When the user interacts with the application, we need to reset the idle timer. We can do this by calling the setIsIdle function and passing in false. For example:

const handleUserInteraction = () => {
  setIsIdle(false);
};

Call this function whenever the user interacts with the application, such as when they click a button or submit a form.

Example Use Cases

• Sign out the user after a specified period of inactivity
• Display a warning message to the user before signing them out
• Reset the idle timer when the user interacts with the application

Best Practices

1. Carefully consider the idle time to avoid disrupting the user’s workflow
2. Provide notifications to the user before signing them out
3. Test the idle timer thoroughly to ensure it is working as expected