Here’s Why your Company Needs Application Security Testing
Here’s Why your Company Needs Application Security Testing
For companies to maintain their brand integrity, customer confidence, and safeguard their data, application security testing is a necessity and not something that should be brushed off.
The Implications of not integrating application security testing
In 2019, data breaches cost companies an average of $3.92 million and 279 days[1] to identify an attack and get their data back. In addition to losing millions of dollars and time, companies also diminish their brand image and risk losing customers. An average loss of $1.42[1] million occurred from customer turnover due to cyber-attacks. When companies’ data are breached by hackers, customers start to distrust and question the security of their personal information that the company is holding and may take their business elsewhere.
Even after spending a lot of time and money to retrieve lost data, companies can experience the effects of a data breach for years after the attack by trying to gain their lost customers back. In fact, 36.2%[1] of the total cost of a data breach can be attributed to lost business.
Why application security testing is important
In order to mitigate and prevent the event of a security breach, companies must implement security testing. When data is being transferred to and from your application, it is at risk of being compromised. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach report, by integrating security testing into applications, the costs of a data breach were reduced by an average of $360,000[1] in 2019. Companies that don’t integrate security testing can pay up to 95% higher costs[1], than companies that do.
How security testing can help mitigate risks
Vulnerabilities in the software of an application, such as mistakes in code that allow for unverified inputs, are one of the main reasons companies are exposed to IT threats. Application security testing can help mitigate these threats by locking down coding changes, evaluating encryption settings, and checking permission and access rights.
Through this method of testing, companies are able to verify that there are no gaps in their application where hackers might be able to get through. These are some examples of where security gaps can lie within your application:
- User authentication
- Discrepancies in code
- Poor user management
- E-commerce plugins
Though the implementation of security testing is not one and done. Continuous integration is necessary with every new development and update to your application. Without investing in a security testing implementation process for every step of the development of your application, it will always be vulnerable to risk.
The likelihood of an organization experiencing a data breach in the next 2 years is 29.6%[1]. Don’t let your applications and organization be at risk. Learn more about Data-Core System’s Application Security Testing solutions and secure your company’s data.
