Security of application data and host is of utmost importance. This article discusses best practices in application security and identifies some common attacks that affect applications.
Best practices for Security of application data and host
Best practices for application security are guidelines for securing applications based on identifying general weaknesses and addressing common vulnerabilities. These best practices are specific to particular software development practices and are not universal.
Application security concepts are well understood but not always implemented, and security experts have had to adjust their practices and procedures as computing systems change. Specifically, the industry went from mainframes to personal computers, which changed how applications are secured.
For on-premises applications, employees may access them over a business network or a virtual private network. As a result, on-premises applications are especially vulnerable because attackers have to be creative to access sensitive information. For example, an application may have several access levels, from C-level executives to individual contributors. Least-privileged-access protocols help limit the blast radius of failure by ensuring that only authorized users access sensitive data.
Developers understand how to write secure code, QA engineers apply security policies to testing, and management makes key decisions with security in mind. SecDevOps takes education and practice, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
Processes for securing applications against external attacks
Processes for securing applications against an external attack can be used to help prevent data breaches, identify vulnerabilities and implement remediation measures. However, the process workflows for securing applications against external attacks should not stop at the vulnerability phase. The security team should have clear guidelines about what to do with each risk and be empowered to address them. These are just a few key areas to consider when designing your security strategy.
Application security can be divided into three main categories: testing, vulnerability management, and penetration testing. Each of these categories has specific benefits. Application security involves improving security practices during the software development lifecycle. This ensures that apps are secure during the development process, prevents attackers from obtaining access to sensitive data, and protects the user from unauthorized activity. Hundreds of security tools are available for different aspects of an application portfolio, including mobile, network-based, and web.
Security vulnerabilities can be related to an application’s design and implementation. Buffer overflow attacks, for instance, target application components that take data from a database and pass it through memory buffers. Many applications fail to check the size of this data, and attackers can embed malicious commands in the data. This attack can be devastating for an application because it allows the attacker to modify data, change the application’s behavior, or even take control of the host system.