Secure Applications: Why Cybersecurity Must Be Integrated Early

Synergy is an essential action word with outsized implications for securing applications against cybersecurity threats. We know cybersecurity is more integrated and in sync with businesses than ever. It’s an enabling tool in the field of application security. Nowadays, SMEs across the board utilize applications of some sort.  

Bad actors are wasting no time in their efforts to troll company systems for weaknesses by poking, prodding, subverting, hacking, and attempting to insert faulty lines of code into system architecture, mainframes, networks, hardware devices, and the like. There are too many threat vectors out there. For these reasons, building secure applications is non-negotiable.

Application security risks have been neglected, avoided, and downplayed for too long. But we know without a doubt that secure applications are sacrosanct. It begins at inception and continues through deployment. At every stage along the way, the safety and security of companywide operations is the top priority. There is always a heightened risk whenever the application layer of a company’s operations is scrutinized. This is also where the most significant damage can occur. 

Why Secure SDLC Is Essential for Modern Application Development

The software development lifecycle (SDLC) forms the application development foundation, outlining the critical stages from design and development to testing and deployment. Yet, secure SDLC practices are insufficient in a world increasingly shaped by cybersecurity risks. Secure SDLC enhances this framework by embedding security checkpoints and processes into each stage, ensuring applications are resilient to modern-day threats.

With a Secure SDLC, organizations can proactively identify vulnerabilities such as SQL injections, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other exploitations during development. Practices like static analysis, threat modeling, and security testing are integrated seamlessly into the workflow, allowing teams to address potential weaknesses early. This approach strengthens application defenses and ensures development timelines stay on track, avoiding costly delays or post-deployment crises.

Adopting a Secure SDLC also aligns with compliance mandates, safeguarding sensitive data and reinforcing stakeholder trust. Beyond regulatory benefits, it highlights an organization’s dedication to building secure, high-quality products. In today’s evolving threat landscape, a Secure SDLC is no longer optional—it is a strategic necessity, offering both protection and a competitive edge.

DevSecOps – Development, Security and Operations 

It’s essential to mitigate these risks by employing the services or software of highly knowledgeable development security operational teams (DevSecOps). They use various application security tools and resources to secure your company’s work environment. Scrambling information/encoding information, logging activity, authorization protocols, authentication methods, and application

Project manager testing can identify company architecture loopholes, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities.

Sometimes, application weaknesses can crop up when migration from development operations to development security operations occurs. This is known as DevOps to DevSecOps. Cybersecurity measures designed as part of an overall framework tend to prioritize DevSecOps. 

There is also another reason why security constructs are different today. Cybersecurity management falls under its department; it’s no longer an exclusive IT function. This is primarily attributed to the shifting sands upon which information technology and cybersecurity operate.

The Importance of Cybersecurity to Web Application Developers

Web applications, in particular, are at risk in a dynamic and ever-expanding online arena. They are particularly susceptible to attack, vulnerabilities, and exploitation. Statistics point to a sobering new reality: 40% + of data breaches stem from web app attacks. 

Given these applications’ high utility value, it is no surprise that bad actors would target them as weak points in the chain. It’s worth briefly exploring some of the more common vulnerabilities with web apps:

• SQL Injections
• Sensitive Data Exposure
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
• Poor Authentication Protocols

Of course, the absence of ironclad security protocols comes with a Pandora’s Box of problems. These include the most apparent effect – financial ruination. IBM’s 2022 report – The Data Breach Cost – found that the average gross cost per company is $4.35 million worldwide. 

Besides the violation of trust, the price of a data breach also includes legal expenses, notification of victims costs, compliance fines, and the like. Then there are the regulatory implications. The FTC (a regulatory body) will fine companies, audit them, and enforce oversight if data breaches result in litigation.

Beyond the basics, trust, security, and reliability issues can give rise to reputational damage. This is a severe setback to a company and its customers, and often, major security hacks are the final nail in the coffin that stakeholders up and down the value chain refuse to tolerate. 

A workaround for these exigent issues is the adoption of secure coding practices. This includes access controls, parameterization, input validation, and encryption technology.  Security testing invariably relies on static analysis, dynamic analysis, and penetration testing, as listed above.