In today’s hyper-connected society, data breaches are no longer isolated events; they have become regular occurrences. With everyone leaving digital footprints everywhere, even a single data breach can prove catastrophic, with personal data being exploited for nefarious purposes. Hence, governmental entities have taken the step to establish regulatory frameworks on data processing and data collection through the introduction of data protection and data privacy laws.

What are data protection laws?

Data protection laws were developed and adapted to the needs of the digital era. One of the most important concepts that we have to keep in mind is that data privacy and data protection are closely related. In fact, the most important obligation of data controllers is to properly store and process personal data. Data protection laws are created to ensure the safety of citizens’ personal data in the digital world. These laws set out rules for how companies must protect the sensitive data they collect and use, and they also give individuals the right to access and control their data.

The most well-known example of a data protection law is the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), considered to be the most stringent privacy and data protection law in the world. The regulation covers aspects such as data collection, data processing, and data sharing, and affects the way that businesses of all sizes collect and use the personal data of EU citizens.

The GDPR has had a ripple effect, leading to the need for a data security solution that can be implemented and integrated into the information systems of any company, regardless of its size and industry.

Why does regulatory compliance matter?

As we can see, data protection compliance frameworks and laws are becoming increasingly important, and need to be taken into consideration by businesses that handle data.

A company that fails to comply with regulations and laws can incur significant fines and even lose out on lucrative contracts. Seeing as nations have started adopting similar data protection frameworks mirroring GDPR, expect businesses to comply if they want to remain competitive. Non-compliance can also lead to reputational damage, loss of customer confidence, and even legal action. It is essential for businesses to understand the risks associated with non-compliance and take appropriate steps to mitigate them.

What does this have to do with DAST?

With cyber attacks and data breaches on the rise, one of the best technical measures to secure applications is by using dynamic application security testing (DAST). DAST is a type of security testing that focuses on the external attack surface of an application or system. 

It works by sending requests to an application and analyzing the responses, looking for any indications of vulnerabilities. It can also dynamically modify requests to test how an application responds to different inputs. DAST simulates real-world attacks, providing a more realistic assessment of the security of the application and helping to identify vulnerabilities that may have been missed by other testing methodologies.

Having DAST in your security strategy is a commitment to users that you are leaving no stone unturned in securing your application. Aside from compliance, it is also a commitment to quality; that every release is properly tested, verified, and safe to use.

For a 5-minute primer on DAST, click here.

Why is DAST important for privacy and data protection?

DAST helps to identify potential security threats, the impact of those threats, and if the data is processed in a way that is not authorized. It can also help you to identify the correct security measures to put in place to protect the data and improve the security posture of your infrastructure.

DAST detects vulnerabilities in the application’s source code, configuration, and behavior to ensure that the application is secure and does not expose any sensitive information. The main goal of DAST is to identify the potential vulnerabilities found and provide a way to fix them before they are discovered by malicious actors.

Many industry standards and regulations aside from GDPR, such as PCI DSS and HIPAA require organizations to regularly perform vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to ensure the security of their systems and data. DAST is a key tool in achieving compliance with these requirements.

Find out how DAST fits into your overall security strategy by clicking here.

Has there been a national mandate for DAST?

In what is perhaps a milestone for data protection legislation, Indonesia has mandated DAST as part of regulatory compliance for the financial services sector, as part of an effort to bolster consumer data and information protection. As banks collect personal information and such data can easily be misused and abused, a data breach can affect thousands of users. 

Hence, banks are implicitly required to utilize DAST in their development pipeline to ensure that their releases are secure. As DAST simulates real-world attacks, banks pre-empt attacks on their applications before actual attacks can happen, and fix vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. 

What is implicit now may be made explicit in the future – we do not expect Indonesia to be the only nation to mandate DAST as a requirement for data protection. Moving forward, expect other industries, nations, and economic regions to follow suit, in light of consumer privacy concerns, increased data sharing across institutions, and refined data protection laws that would better suit current needs.

DAST will no longer be considered a luxury; it will be a requirement.

What should be done?

DAST plays a critical role in compliance because it helps organizations identify and mitigate security risks that could lead to breaches or data loss. By leveraging DAST, organizations can improve the security of their applications and protect against cyber threats.

Data protection laws around the world have become increasingly stringent, and non-compliance carries serious consequences. As such, it is important for organizations to ensure their applications are secure and comply with data protection laws. 

By incorporating DAST into the development process, organizations can ensure their applications are secure and comply with the necessary regulations and requirements. DAST is an effective way to ensure application security and data protection compliance and should be implemented as part of the development process.

If you’re looking to implement DAST, we can help – get in touch with us.

The post The Role of DAST in Meeting Regulatory Compliance Standards appeared first on GuardRails.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from GuardRails authored by GuardRails. Read the original post at: https://blog.guardrails.io/the-role-of-dast-in-meeting-regulatory-compliance-standards/