A strong application security (AppSec) strategy goes beyond just using the right tools. It needs people with the right skills and expertise to find and fix security weaknesses throughout the entire software development process. However, many developers don't receive this type of training in their formal education, so it's often an area that's neglected.
One solution to this problem is AppSec as a Service, which can bring numerous benefits to an organization. This blog discusses eleven key advantages of this service that can improve security.
According to the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), cybercrime significantly rose in FY 2023, with a 23% increase from the previous year and over 94,000 reported incidents. In the same period, the number of publicly reported security vulnerabilities, known as common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs), also increased by 20%.
These alarming numbers highlight the importance of organizations prioritizing and enhancing Application Security (AppSec) measures to protect themselves against these growing threats.
Consulting with a team of AppSec specialists can help your organization spot, evaluate, and fix vulnerabilities that emerge during the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and in live environments. Application Security can be overwhelming for business leaders because of the technical language involved.
However, an AppSec as a Service provider can deliver straightforward, practical advice. Breaking down complex information enables leaders to make well-informed decisions, which ensures that both developers and top management are on the same page.
Choosing AppSec as a Service team is often a more budget-friendly option than hiring a single full-time specialist for your in-house team. With an AppSec as a Service provider, you gain access to a group of experts who possess diverse knowledge across various fields.
While a full-time employee may excel in one or two areas, using AppSec as a Service gives access to a wider range of skills and experiences. Even if the cost is similar to a salary, you benefit from the provider’s collaboration with multiple organizations, which brings valuable best practices and insights from their work.
Regular security assessments—penetration testing, static and dynamic analysis, and vulnerability scanning—help organizations anticipate new threats and identify application vulnerabilities. AppSec as a Service offers ongoing monitoring and recommendations to manage risks specific to your application stack.
Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, this service provides targeted strategies to address specific vulnerabilities. With in-depth insights related to your applications, your team can make informed decisions, such as:
Vulnerability PrioritizationPrioritizing vulnerabilities helps your business understand which security risks need urgent attention. By identifying high-risk vulnerabilities and those that are less critical, leaders can make better decisions about their AppSec strategy.
Focusing on vulnerability prioritization allows your business to manage AppSec more cost-effectively. This way, you can tackle immediate issues instead of trying to fix all vulnerabilities simultaneously, which could lead to wasted resources.
Your web APIs require protection from threats, including DoS attacks, DDoS attacks, broken access control issues, API abuse, and content injection. To improve API security, it's essential to implement strong authentication measures, establish defenses against DoS and DDoS attacks, and regularly evaluate vulnerabilities to improve protection against new threats.
An AppSec as a Service provider enhances API security by implementing strong authentication, monitoring for API abuse, and preventing injection attacks. It ensures the safety of sensitive data and the integrity of your applications.
As your requirements expand, AppSec as a Service provider can grow alongside you, addressing your changing AppSec needs without the difficulties of expanding in-house teams. These providers deliver scalable, flexible security solutions that match your company’s needs and rising security demands.
AppSec as a Service helps your organization meet compliance standards such as GDPR (EU), HIPAA (healthcare), PCI-DSS (financial transactions), and NIST (US government security). This solution ensures that your security controls remain current and aligned with changing regulations.
AppSec as a Service can reduce the risk of non-compliance and the resulting financial or legal consequences.
During their formal education, many developers receive limited training in secure coding practices and vulnerability management, making hands-on AppSec training crucial. As a result, they need to pursue this training after starting their careers to incorporate AppSec into their work.
This can create a gap in their basic training, causing even skilled developers to miss critical security vulnerabilities.
AppSec as a Service helps fill this knowledge gap by offering focused training to your development team. This training allows teams to develop the following:
AppSec as a Service focuses on proactive security by spotting and fixing vulnerabilities before they escalate or result in a breach. Instead of waiting for a problem to occur, the provider actively monitors and analyzes your code to detect issues early in the development process.
This strategy helps prevent attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities and safeguards organizational and customer data.
AppSec as a Service integrates security into DevOps by embedding security controls into CI/CD pipelines, automating vulnerability scans, and enforcing secure coding practices without disrupting workflows.
It enhances current practices by providing a comprehensive approach to securing the SDLC. By blending smoothly into the DevSecOps framework, AppSec as a Service ensures that productivity and operations remain unaffected while improving security measures.
Our AppSec as a Service solution guarantees that your software applications and infrastructure are secure, dependable, and compliant. We evaluate security risks to provide practical insights and tackle potential vulnerabilities at all stages, from the software development life cycle (SDLC) to applications running in real-time.
For more details, please contact our AppSec Experts.
Application security protects against threats that exploit application weaknesses to gain unauthorized access, steal essential data, or disrupt normal operations. This field constantly changes, and significant advancements have been made in developing and deploying applications.
Application security helps reduce the risks associated with both minor and significant vulnerabilities. Reducing the number of access points for attackers improves your defense against possible threats.
Application security ensures that each application is protected during the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and any connected devices and systems. In contrast, product security covers all stages of the product's lifecycle, not just its specific applications.
Application security involves identifying, addressing, and preventing security weaknesses at the application level as part of the software development process.
Application security features include authentication, authorization, encryption, logging, and application security testing.