Cybersecurity Essentials: Understanding AppSec for Cybersecurity Awareness

Whether you are a business or an end user, we are all connected through technology. The more connected we get, the more our data is stored on the web and potentially at risk of being disclosed. October is cybersecurity awareness month, an excellent opportunity to explore the many misconceptions about cybersecurity and discover its benefits.

Cybersecurity includes many practices, technologies, and strategies to protect digital assets. It is more than just preventing hackers. It covers several factors, including unauthorized access, misuse, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. While cybercriminals may be responsible for some of these issues, cybersecurity helps prevent them regardless of origin. With specialized tools and processes, there’s a way to stop new and evolving threats. However, cybersecurity is not a one-time fix. It is an ongoing effort to shore up defenses and watch them for new problems.

One of the core areas of cybersecurity is application security or AppSec, which focuses on the security of applications in their development and operations. It builds security measures into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) to protect applications from threats. This practice starts at the initial design and continues through deployment and ongoing updates, aiming to fortify applications against vulnerabilities, reduce the likelihood of data breaches, and enhance user trust.

Secure coding is essential in AppSec. Developers must write functional and secure code, minimizing vulnerabilities from the start. They can do this by leveraging automated security tools, which aid in detecting and resolving issues more swiftly, enhancing the overall security posture of the applications.

SAST is a powerful tool that proactively fortifies applications by detecting source code-level vulnerabilities. It helps by analyzing code to identify security flaws in the development process, allowing developers to address them before going live. This is especially useful as fixing problems early is far more cost-effective and less disruptive than after release. Many organizations build this testing into their CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that testing happens consistently and that security is built into the application from the start.

SAST is only one of the main testing approaches in AppSec. Where SAST targets static code, DAST assesses the application from the outside by examining its running state. This method is designed to identify security vulnerabilities present during the application’s runtime. DAST tools function by simulating external hacking attempts on the application, helping to identify issues such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and other exploits that could be missed during static analysis.

DAST’s primary benefit is its ability to detect vulnerabilities that only become apparent when the application is active. This includes problems like misconfigurations and runtime operation issues, which are not visible in the code. By identifying these vulnerabilities, DAST helps prevent attacks that could exploit these weaknesses, enhancing the application’s security once deployed.

However, DAST does have certain limitations. First, it does not analyze the source code directly, which means it can miss issues that could be caught by static analysis tools. Because DAST only tests an application’s visible pathways and services, it may not detect deeply embedded vulnerabilities in backend code not exposed during normal application operations. Despite these limitations, DAST is a highly valuable tool in the security testing arsenal, offering a practical approach to identifying and mitigating risks in live applications.

Applications are no longer entirely developed from scratch; they are built from unique code and common libraries. These libraries speed up development by incorporating commonly used functions, but if they have vulnerabilities, they are carried into the applications that use them. AppSec practices use Software Composition Analysis (SCA) to analyze and manage third-party components, such as open-source libraries.

SCA provides a clear overview of the software’s inventory, allowing developers to identify and evaluate all third-party components used within their applications. It helps assess and mitigate risks associated with these external elements, ensuring they do not compromise the application’s security or the organization’s compliance with licensing agreements.

To reduce security risks, SCA scans libraries for known vulnerabilities and outdated versions that could leave the application susceptible to attacks. These tools help organizations maintain compliance with software licenses, an aspect often overlooked yet critical in managing legal and operational risks.

Software is more than just the code it is built from. It also includes the APIs through which applications communicate and interact with other applications, data, and services. APIs are used to create connected, scalable systems, and their open nature makes securing them a top priority. This is especially true as APIs often handle sensitive data and provide access points to critical internal functions. API security safeguards the integrity and confidentiality of data transmitted between systems. A breach in API security can lead to significant data leaks, unauthorized access, and even complete system takeovers, making robust security measures essential.

Many of AppSec’s practices are considered proactive cybersecurity measures. They involve anticipating potential security threats and taking preventative actions to mitigate them before they can cause harm. Unlike reactive solutions, which only address issues after they occur, preventative strategies aim to avoid problems altogether. Preventing incidents proactively helps eliminate related costs of incidents such as loss of data, operational downtime, and recovery, all of which impact operations. They also damage an organization’s reputation and may come with regulatory fines and legal costs.

Probely is more than just security testing. It is also a non-intrusive asset discovery tool that seamlessly integrates into existing IT systems. Probely leverages sophisticated scanning technologies that quietly work in the background, ensuring normal operations remain unaffected. This is especially important for many organizations, where even minor interruptions can cause major repercussions.

A key focus of Probely’s asset discovery is identifying an organization’s public-facing digital attack surface. These assets, which include public APIs, web applications, and online services, represent critical points of vulnerability as they are directly accessible from the internet. Probely uses advanced algorithms to scan and catalog these assets, ensuring that every potential cyberattack entry point is accounted for and secured.

Probely excels in detecting unknown and shadow IT components—assets often missed by traditional security measures due to their unofficial or unmonitored nature. By bringing these hidden elements into light, Probely provides a more complete and accurate picture of the attack surface, enabling organizations to enact more comprehensive security measures and reduce the overall risk of breaches.

Schedule a demo today to see how Probely can help your organization uncover its true software security posture.