What is Application Security & How to Implement It?

Digital transformation has become a hot topic for entrepreneurs and c-suite executives across the globe. Whether you’re running an online store or a brick-and-mortar business, you’re likely using software applications to cater to the fast-evolving consumer needs.

Better still, you might be leveraging new-age mobile and cloud-based applications to optimize business operations and efficiency. The key is to use software to automate routine tasks, thereby speeding up business processes and skyrocketing employee efficiency.

This, in turn, has emphasized the need for rolling out frequent software updates and advanced features. Developers are continually hard-pressed for time trying to add sophisticated features and functionalities to various software solutions. Application security often takes the backseat amidst this frenzy.

In fact, a recent study involving 130,000 applications analyzed over a year revealed that 76% of them have at least one security flaw. Worse still, nearly a quarter of the applications have at least one high-severity security flaw. The figures clearly highlight the need for making application security a part of the software development lifecycle.

In this blog, we’ll outline the most useful application security tips for business owners and software developers. But let’s first delve deeper into the concept of application security.

What is Application Security?

Simply put, application security refers to the practice of securing apps while they’re being developed and deployed. In other words, it’s the process of making software applications secure by scanning, identifying, and rectifying security threats and vulnerabilities.

It’s worth mentioning here that application security isn’t just about securing apps during the design and development phase. Instead, it emphasizes the need for using robust security tools and protocols to keep an application secure even after it’s been deployed and is available to users.

Implementing application security isn’t as straightforward as encrypting all your data or installing a web application firewall. Instead, it requires a consolidated approach between security managers and developers to incorporate security into the CI/CD pipeline. It involves various steps, such as security testing and threat assessment.

Also, it includes the following components:

• Web application security
• Network security
• Cloud security
• Mobile application security

Why Do You Need Application Security?

It’s only natural to wonder whether implementing application security is worth the effort at all. Can’t you simply use standard security tools and policies to build and deploy secure apps? In most cases, this won’t be feasible because modern software applications pose a unique set of security challenges.

To begin with, these apps are used on a wide array of devices and browsers that need to be connected to the internet. This could make any app vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. Likewise, the use of cloud-based servers to develop and deploy apps increased the risk of security threats.

Also, the increasing demand for faster turnaround times has compelled developers to use various open-source components, such as plugins and libraries. This, in turn, makes apps susceptible to a wide array of open-source vulnerabilities and security threats. Also, it could make your business liable to lawsuits and penalties.

Equifax Data Breach

Equifax, the renowned credit rating agency, had to learn this the hard way when they used a vulnerable open-source component in one of their online customer portals. It resulted in a massive data breach in 2017, exposing the personal records of more than 145 million Equifax customers.

Ultimately, the company had to pay $575 million to settle lawsuits filed by the FTC and other regulatory bodies. Thus, ignoring application security can have devastating financial and legal consequences.

Now that you know how crucial application security is for every business, it’s time for us to explore the process of implementing it.

Application Security Best Practices

Application security is a multi-step process that involves securing the source code, as well as the data stored in an app. Also, you need to secure various network components, servers, and devices that’ll interact with the app.

To begin with, you need to organize all your assets or software components. This includes any themes, plugins, libraries, and other dependencies an app might be using. Make sure you have a clear idea of the various open-source components that have been deployed in different apps.

Next, you need to perform an extensive threat assessment to identify the potential vulnerabilities and security threats for a particular app. This is also a good time to evaluate the security tools and platforms you’re using and determine whether you need any new tools.

The next step is to analyze various risks and segregate them into various priority buckets. This is crucial because you can’t completely eliminate the risk of cyberattacks and other security threats. Instead, you need to watch out for the ones that’ll cause maximum damage to your business and have a higher likelihood of occurring.

Thereafter, you need to implement various security policies, such as data encryption and role-based access. Also, you need to ensure that new software updates are patched in a timely manner. Make sure you’re using the latest version of all open-source components.

Lastly, it’s recommended that you use automated testing tools to ensure continuous security testing. It can go a long way to help developers detect vulnerabilities earlier in the software development lifecycle.

What strategies are you using to implement application security for your business? Share your suggestions in the comments section below.