diff --git a/app/services/github-state.js b/app/services/github-state.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9dd5857d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/services/github-state.js
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import Ember from 'ember';
+
+const { get, Service, inject: { service } } = Ember;
+
+/**
+ * Converts an integer to a hex string and returns the last two characters as
+ * a string.
+ *
+ * @method integerToHex
+ * @param {Integer} integer An integer to convert
+ * @return {String} A hexadecimal string of length 2.
+ */
+function integerToHex(integer) {
+  return (`0${integer.toString(16)}`.substr(-2));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Generates a randomized array of decimals, converts them to hexadecimal values
+ * and joins into a string in order to output a random string of specified
+ * length.
+ *
+ * @method generateRandomString
+ * @param {Integer} length The length of the random string to generate
+ * @return {String} A random string of the specified length
+ */
+function generateRandomString(length = 40) {
+  let unsignedInt8Array = new window.Uint8Array(length / 2);
+  let randomizedArray = window.crypto.getRandomValues(unsignedInt8Array);
+  return Array.from(randomizedArray).map(integerToHex).join('');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Service used to protect against cross site request forgery during the github
+ * connect process. The two methods, `generate()` and `validate(state)` are
+ * served to initialy generate and then later validate a `state` string used
+ * in the process.
+ *
+ * @class GithubStateService
+ * @module code-corps-ember/services/github-state
+ * @extends Ember.Service
+ * @uses SessionService
+ * @public
+ */
+export default Service.extend({
+  /**
+   * We use the injected session service to store the `state` in a way that
+   * persists across tabs
+   *
+   * @property session
+   * @type Ember.Service
+   * @private
+   */
+  session: service(),
+
+  /**
+   * Generates and returns a random string. The string is also stored into the
+   * user's session.
+   *
+   * This string can then be used as a `state` variable when navigating to
+   * github's connect URL. Github will then return it upon succesful approval,
+   * so it can be validated using the sibling `validate(state)` function.
+   *
+   * @method generate
+   * @return {String} A randomly generated string. The string is also stored in the user's session.
+   * @public
+   */
+  generate() {
+    let githubState = generateRandomString();
+    // session service overrides `set`, so we need to use it directly
+    get(this, 'session').set('data.githubState', githubState);
+    return githubState;
+  },
+
+  /**
+   * Validates a state string.
+   *
+   * The string will be compared against another string, generated by the
+   * sibling `generate()` function and stored into the current user's session,
+   * to determine if it's valid or not.
+   *
+   * @method validate
+   * @param {String} stateToCheck The string to check if valid
+   * @return {Boolean} True if the provided string is also the one stored in the user's session, false otherwise.
+   * @public
+   */
+  validate(stateToCheck) {
+    let state = get(this, 'session.data.githubState');
+    return state && state === stateToCheck;
+  }
+});
diff --git a/tests/unit/services/github-state-test.js b/tests/unit/services/github-state-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..419aff10c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/services/github-state-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { moduleFor, test } from 'ember-qunit';
+import Test from 'ember-simple-auth/authenticators/test';
+import setupSession from 'ember-simple-auth/initializers/setup-session';
+import setupSessionService from 'ember-simple-auth/initializers/setup-session-service';
+
+moduleFor('service:github-state', 'Unit | Service | github state', {
+  needs: ['service:session'],
+  beforeEach() {
+    this.register('authenticator:test', Test);
+    setupSession(this.registry);
+    setupSessionService(this.registry);
+  }
+});
+
+test('validates a generated "state" as correct', function(assert) {
+  assert.expect(1);
+
+  let service = this.subject();
+  let state = service.generate();
+
+  assert.ok(service.validate(state), 'Validation passed.');
+});
+
+test('validates some random "state" as incorrect', function(assert) {
+  assert.expect(1);
+
+  let state = 'some random string';
+  let service = this.subject();
+  assert.notOk(service.validate(state), 'Validation failed.');
+});
+
+test('validates undefined and null as incorrect, even though stored state is also undefined', function(assert) {
+  assert.expect(2);
+
+  let service = this.subject();
+  assert.notOk(service.validate(undefined), 'Validation failed for undefined.');
+  assert.notOk(service.validate(null), 'Validation failed for null.');
+});