TO VULNERABILITIES

WRITTEN BY: MARCUS

As technology continues to advance and businesses become increasingly reliant on digital platforms, application security (AppSec) vulnerabilities are on the rise. The impact of these vulnerabilities can be devastating, resulting in data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage.

According to VMware, application security describes security measures at the application level that aim to prevent data or code within the app from being stolen or hijacked. It encompasses the security considerations that happen during application development and design, but it also involves systems and approaches to protect apps after they get deployed.

Companies are increasing their investments in AppSec, with overall spending predicted to hit US$7.503bn this year, a 24.7% increase from the previous year.

According to Snyk, AppSec best practices can help uncover vulnerabilities before attackers can use them to breach networks and data. The issue is widespread: according to Snyk’s 2021 State of Cloud Native Application Security report, over 56% of organisations experienced a misconfiguration or known unpatched vulnerability incident involving their cloud-native applications. While not all of these vulnerabilities present a major security risk, hackers themselves evaluate vulnerabilities to find which ones present a plausible method for penetration.

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As Kev Breen, Director of Cyber Threat Research at Immersive Labs, explains, AppSec vulnerabilities are on the rise. “Attackers consistently look for new ways to exploit applications, and even the smallest of vulnerabilities can lead to a full-blown data breach,” he says.

“Yet, executives’ focus on rapidly shipping new products to market means that cybersecurity is not always the top priority, potentially exposing companies to millions in lost revenue and damaged brand reputations.”

Rise in mobile apps leading to vulnerabilities

The proliferation of mobile applications has also contributed to the rise of application security vulnerabilities. Many mobile apps are developed without proper security controls, making them vulnerable to attacks. This puts sensitive data such as user credentials, payment information, and personal information at risk.

According to online protection leader McAfee’s annual Consumer Mobile Threat Report, issued in February to coincide with the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, malicious apps usually fall into

Kev Breen

TITLE: DIRECTOR OF CYBER

THREAT RESEARCH

COMPANY: IMMERSIVE LABS

LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM