Bolstering web application security

In 2023, data breaches come with an average price tag of $4.45 million, emphasizing the inadequacy of relying solely on periodic scans for web applications and application programming interfaces. Modern web development mandates a strategy that harmonizes speed, precision and increased testing frequency.

Within this era, where web applications and APIs serve as the lifeblood of government agencies, the need for robust security measures cannot be overstated. While these technologies have revolutionized service delivery and citizen-government communication, they’ve also become prime targets for hackers.

This challenge is amplified for government entities, which often deal with aging applications and systems, impeding their ability to keep pace with evolving threats in contrast to their more agile private sector counterparts.

A report produced by Scoop News Group and underwritten by Invicti Security sheds light on how modern security testing tools can help public sector organizations fortify their web application security in the face of escalating cyber threats.

Invicti Security’s Chief Technology Officer, Frank Catucci, emphasizes the need for a comprehensive understanding of potential attack scenarios, especially in dealing with legacy systems. Rigorous testing is essential to identifying vulnerabilities accurately as more applications move online and become exposed to threats.

“In certain instances, the latest versions of software might be inappropriate because they’re perhaps older components or things that are critical for infrastructure or business functions that can’t be disrupted as well. So, in that case, rigorous testing becomes imperative. And we need to understand, without a lot of noise, where the real risks lie,” Catucci says.

The report dives into the importance of integrating security practices into DevOps processes. It highlights why adopting solutions that blend into the software development cycle (SDLC)—like dynamic application security testing (DAST), interactive application security testing (IAST), or software composition analysis (SCA)—provides comprehensive coverage for applications in development and production, yielding accurate results and reducing manual work.

Read the report to learn how to build robust web application security through continuous, comprehensive and automated scans across their entire attack surfaces.

This article was produced by Scoop News Group for FedScoop and DefenseScoop and sponsored by Invicti Security.