# Phase 16 — Security, testing, and optimization

Phase 16 reviewed the completed platform for security, authorization, performance,
database indexes, responsive behavior, accessibility, build integrity, and regression
risk.

## Security changes

- Added a restrictive Content Security Policy with per-response Vite/script nonces,
  blocked objects, self-only forms/base URLs, frame restrictions, and allowlisted
  image/font/connect sources.
- Added private `no-store` caching to authenticated pages, verification results, and
  downloads.
- Added throttles to public CMS pages, downloads, academic-document verification, and
  applicant registration.
- Removed third-party font requests from authenticated and guest layouts.
- Added a production environment template with debug disabled, HTTPS, encrypted
  secure/HttpOnly/SameSite sessions, Redis queue/cache, private object storage, and
  empty secret placeholders.
- Rechecked CSRF exceptions: only signed payment webhooks remain exempt.
- Static review found no raw unprepared SQL, debug dumps, unescaped Blade output, or
  committed service secrets. The remaining `selectRaw` is a constant aggregate query,
  and the LMS deny-all `whereRaw` contains no user input.

## Authorization and adversarial checks

- Verified students cannot access CMS, institutional reports, or announcement
  administration.
- Verified public users cannot retrieve role-restricted downloads.
- Verified CMS script payloads are escaped.
- Verified public verification throttling returns HTTP 429.
- Existing tenant-isolation, private-file, payment, CBT, results, document, formation,
  graduation, and role tests remain green.

## Performance and index review

Added composite indexes for:

- payment reports by institution/status/date;
- application dashboard counts;
- lecturer allocation workload;
- unread announcements;
- published CMS posts;
- public download lookup;
- sent-message history.

The institutional summary report is protected by an automated query budget of eight
queries or fewer. Configuration, route, and Blade view caches build successfully.

## Responsive and accessibility review

- Added keyboard-visible skip navigation and stable `main` landmarks.
- Added language and viewport metadata to public CMS pages.
- Replaced remote fonts with system fallbacks.
- Made the large desktop navigation horizontally resilient while retaining the
  existing mobile menu.
- Verified escaped content and semantic public-page landmarks in automated tests.

## Residual risks and production gates

- Alpine currently requires CSP `unsafe-eval`; migrate to the Alpine CSP build before
  a nonce-only script policy is required.
- Uploaded files are MIME/extension/size/hash validated, but production malware
  scanning still requires an external scanner.
- SMS and WhatsApp are preference-ready but have no provider transport.
- Live payment gateways, SMTP, Redis, S3, MySQL concurrency, backup/restore, disaster
  recovery, and load testing require production-like infrastructure in Phase 17.
- Manual screen-reader, keyboard, browser/device, and penetration testing remain
  required before launch.

## Verification

Focused hardening suite: 9 tests, 35 assertions.
Full application suite: 122 tests, 462 assertions.
Composer and npm audits reported no known vulnerabilities. The production Vite
bundle, configuration cache, route cache, and Blade view cache all built successfully.

```powershell
C:\xampp\php\php.exe artisan migrate
C:\xampp\php\php.exe artisan test --filter=Phase16SecurityOptimizationTest
C:\xampp\php\php.exe artisan test
C:\xampp\php\php.exe composer.phar audit
npm audit
npm run build
```

Phase 16 is complete. Phase 17 documentation and deployment requires explicit
approval.