At a time when the state of cybersecurity is constantly changing, with new and increasing threats arising each day, it is vital for all organizations to keep it near the top of their list of priorities. Business applications are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, and their ability to protect and defend themselves against these attacks is a crucial part of their operations. Just as there are many different kinds of cybercriminals and cyberattacks, there are many ways a business may choose to go about bolstering their application security.

In an effort to explore the current state of application security, Cybersecurity Insiders partnered with Beyond Security by HelpSystems to conduct an in-depth study of cybersecurity trends. The resulting report is based on a comprehensive survey of cybersecurity professionals to gain insight into current trends, challenges, and solutions for application security. The respondents’ demographics vary based on career level, department, company size, industry, and resources in order to create a balanced representative sample.

Major concerns and challenges

According to 44% of survey respondents, one of the biggest application security concerns for organizations is protecting data. Additionally, 42% of respondents are concerned about keeping up with the rising number of vulnerabilities, 38% about threat and breach detection, and 37% about securing cloud applications. Other major concerns cited by cybersecurity professionals include securing applications they develop (37%) and protecting against malware (29%).

When asked which types of applications present the highest security risk to businesses, 42% of respondents say customer-facing web apps and 40% cite legacy apps. Trailing behind a bit, but still posing a risk are mobile apps (30%), desktop apps (28%), and internal-facing web apps (26%).

Barriers inhibiting organizations from defending against cyberthreats

The study also strives to understand what potential problems may be serving as an obstacle for businesses to better defend themselves against attacks on applications. The challenges (Read more...)