According to Allied Market Research, the global application security ( importance of application security ) market was valued at $5973 in 2020 and is projected to reach $33914 by 2030, at a CAGR of 18.7%. Post-COVID-19, the demand for application security solutions has increased. An increasing number of companies are shifting their security efforts towards end-point security for work-from-home systems. Additionally, the security systems of enterprises that lack resources are adopting these solutions to address web application issues. Let’s understand more about application security.
Definition
Application security is a mechanism for protecting the application from unauthorized use and preventing an application from hacking. This is done by adding security capabilities within the applications to strengthen defence against threats. Proactive steps like discovering vulnerabilities and patching them are done too.
Why are application security and customer data protection important?
A cyber breach can impact your business in the following ways:
- Loss of sensitive and vital data about customers, workers, third parties, and the company.
- Lead to financial setbacks caused by decreased revenue or costs associated with responding to a cyberattack.
- Regulation-related legal action or fines for failing to follow web application protection measures.
- Damage to one’s reputation in the eyes of clients, collaborators, and, most important, investors.
- Downtime of systems can lead to loss of employee and organizational productivity.
- Closure of the company.
Steps to develop effective application security and customer data protection plan
Understand and learn about the different cyberattacks: With new security threats appearing every year, it’s essential to familiarise yourself with the most prevalent ones.
- Common cyberattacks
- Phishing.
- Malware.
- SQL injection.
- DoS and DDoS.
- Zero-day attacks.
- Cross-site scripting.
Familiarizing yourself with the attacks can assist you in developing a thorough plan for a secure web app and understanding the potential security risk areas for your business.
Encourage a Cyber security Culture Among Employees: Employee negligence is a common cause of cyberattacks! Weak passwords, using company/BYOD devices on public wi-fi networks, disobeying workplace cybersecurity policies, and clicking on phishing emails are common mistakes that employees make. Therefore, it is essential to educate your employees on the significance of application security through regular, focused training programs. Install security software on your employees’ devices as an endpoint security step.
Limit Data Access Permissions:
With hybrid work environments continuing, the likelihood of data theft can’t be ignored. Ensure that sensitive corporate information access is given only to verified individuals. Depending on how sensitive the data is, you also need to set up several authorization/permission levels for access to the data.
Carry out Strict Security Testing:
One of the most robust cyberattack preventive strategies is security testing, which focuses on four key areas to find all potential flaws, weaknesses, hazards, and threats in your application.
Critical areas security testing focuses on:
Network Security
System Software Security
Client-Side Application Security
Server-Side Application Security
Security testing includes vulnerability scanning, security scanning, penetration testing, and risk assessment. Developers can quickly repair any issues by modifying the code if any problems are found.
Develop an incident response strategy:
No matter how meticulously you adhere to all web application protection procedures, there is always a possibility for errors. An incident and failure response strategy are required in these situations. It outlines the steps your personnel must take in a security breach incident. This way, you can prevent, contain, and control the problem without wasting time.
Conclusion
Timely intervention is a crucial component of application security and customer data protection. Skillmine performs continuous risk discovery through penetration testing and automated security scanning, thereby defending your system against cyberattacks. We guarantee a 360-degree perspective and 24*7 monitoring of your application and customer data.
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