In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, application security has become a critical component of modern software development. As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated, ensuring the integrity of applications and protecting sensitive data that these applications store, process, or handle is of paramount importance. In this blog post, we will delve into the world of application security - exploring key components, testing techniques, essential tools, and best practices - to help you stay ahead of the curve and safeguard your applications from cyber threats.

TL;DR

• Understand and protect against application security threats through threat modeling, security controls, and compliance standards.
• Utilize essential tools such as web application firewalls to ensure the safety of digital assets.
• Adopt DevSecOps approach for streamlining the development process & employ best practices for managing privileges & access control.

Understanding Application Security

Application security is the practice of safeguarding software applications from security threats. The growing reliance on web applications in daily operations necessitates the prioritization of application security in order to protect sensitive data and prevent security breaches. Advancements in application security have led to the integration of cloud technology, automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence into security tools.

Incorporating these modern approaches allows organizations to preempt emerging threats and vulnerabilities, enhance their security posture, and fortify the resilience of their applications.

Key Components of Application Security

Three essential elements of application security are threat modeling, security controls, and compliance standards. These components work together to identify and mitigate potential risks and vulnerabilities in applications.

Threat Modeling

Threat modeling is a process that systematically reviews potential threats to an enterprise or information system. The primary steps of threat modeling involve identifying, evaluating, and addressing potential threats and vulnerabilities. Doing so enables organizations to implement suitable measures to counter the exploitation of identified vulnerabilities by identified threats.

Integrating threat modeling into the DevOps process allows teams to construct security into the project to counteract potential issues such as:

• inadequate authentication
• absence of input validation
• lack of data encryption
• insufficient error handling

This is a basic tenet of “shift left” where considering security from the outset, and not just pre-deployment, helps organizations minimize the likelihood of security incidents and maintain the integrity of their applications. Doing so will transition the traditional DevOps approach to a security-focused DevSecOps.

Security Controls

Security controls refer to the measures taken to protect applications from potential threats and vulnerabilities, such as tools, techniques, and best practices. Vulnerability management, for instance, involves the identification, classification, prioritization, and mitigation of software vulnerabilities. Application firewalls, another common security control, manage input/output or system calls to the application based on specific rules.

Implementing security controls at the code level can significantly reduce an application’s vulnerability to cyberattacks. Tools such as the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database provide a comprehensive list of known vulnerabilities that can be used by vulnerability management tools to scan applications for weaknesses and subsequently remediate them. 

Compliance Standards

Compliance standards are designed to provide guidance and regulations to ensure application security and data protection. Various application security standards exist, such as:

• OWASP (Open Worldwide Application Security Project) Top 10, which lists the most commonly encountered vulnerabilities and their associated risk profiles
• NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) SP (Special Publication) 800-218: Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF), which outlines recommendations for selecting security controls
• OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS)
• ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization / International Electrotechnical Commission) 27002
• CIS (Center for Internet Security) Critical Security Controls (CSC) 

Implementing these guidelines and regulations allows organizations not only to protect their applications and data but also to demonstrate their commitment to security and compliance to stakeholders.

Types of Application Security Testing

Application security testing, including mobile application security testing, is the process of evaluating, assessing, and reporting on the security level of an application as it progresses through the software development lifecycle. There are three primary approaches to application security testing: static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), and interactive application security testing (IAST).

SAST assesses the application source code for errors in coding and design. On the other hand, DASTg analyzes applications while they are running, focusing on inputs and outputs and how the application responds to malicious or faulty data. IAST combines the advantageous aspects of both SAST and DAST, providing a comprehensive approach to application security testing.

Application Security Best Practices

In addition to implementing the components (Threat Modeling, Security Controls, Compliance Standards) and testing (SAST, DAST, IAST) mentioned earlier, an organization should be cognizant of the following best practices:

Addressing Third-Party and Open Source Vulnerabilities

Addressing third-party and open source vulnerabilities is essential for application security, as these components can introduce potential risks and weaknesses. The use of software composition analysis (SCA) tools enables organizations to identify and manage these vulnerabilities, ensuring the security and integrity of their applications.

Managing Privileges and Access Control

Managing privileges and access control is paramount for application security, guaranteeing that only approved users have access to confidential data and systems. Implementing the principle of least privilege, which requires users and applications to be provided with only the minimum level of privileges necessary to perform their job functions, can help to prevent unauthorized access and security breaches.

Essential Application Security Tools

Essential application security tools include a web application firewall (WAF), runtime application self-protection (RASP), and vulnerability management solutions. These tools play a crucial role in securing applications and systems, protecting them from potential security issues and vulnerabilities. Security teams utilize these tools to ensure the safety of their organization’s digital assets, with a strong focus on web application security.

The following subsection explores an application security tool, Riscosity, which combines multiple security testing techniques to provide comprehensive protection for applications and systems.

Riscosity

Riscosity is an application security tool that combines multiple security testing techniques to provide comprehensive protection. This software security company provides services to assist enterprises in:

• Detecting
• Analyzing
• Managing
• Protecting their applications

by ensuring security, compliance, visibility, and integrity for third-party data in transit. Riscosity makes this possible by

• Remediating any potentially risky data transfers before they reach their destinations
• Providing full visibility of third-party data in transit
• Automating the security process, utilizing techniques such as fuzz testing, penetration testing, and dynamic application security testing (DAST)