Despite the growing evidence of the criticality of application security, many businesses continue to remain unaware and unsure of its benefits. Since it is often discussed in terms of security breaches, legal costs, non-compliance and regulatory fines, the business opportunities that app security offers are often overlooked. As a result, businesses tend to view web app security as merely an overhead cost or as a matter of compliance. In reality, however, it is an enabler for businesses of all kinds and sizes.
IT veteran Robert Garigue said that we can drive cars fast only because they have brakes. Think of application security as the brakes in your car.
We don’t see car brakes as a blocker to speed, but rather as a necessity. Similarly, app security is not a blocker to digital transformation and innovation but an enabler, a necessity even. A well-designed and mature security program enables businesses to drive fast and accelerate their performance, gaining strategic advantages in a progressively digital world.
Four Undeniable Reasons Why Application Security is a Business Enabler:
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App Sec Helps Earn Customer Confidence, Trust and Loyalty
Data breaches and cyber-attacks have become a regular feature of our increasingly digital world. The businesses facing such breaches and attacks are splashed across the news and other media outlets. This shakes up customer confidence and trust in such brands, denting brand image and causing massive reputational damage. Customers do not want to do business with such brands as they fear losing their confidential data.
When customers believe that the brand is taking every possible measure to protect their confidential information and prevent data breaches, they are more likely to have confidence in using their apps and websites. Customers, in such cases, are more forgiving if breaches do happen. When brands demonstrate that they are taking application security seriously and have a solid record of accomplishment in data protection and privacy, they earn customer trust and loyalty while attracting new customers.
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App Sec Ensures Business Productivity
Cyber-attacks disrupt business functioning. They cause downtime, crashes, make applications/ internal networks/ systems unavailable and so on. In the digital world of business, even a few minutes of downtime leads to big productivity losses and business disruptions.
With a well-strategized web app security program, such attacks can be prevented. Further, robust security programs also include frequent backups, regular updates, and strong incident response plans. Even if attacks do happen, such a security program will help the business recuperate quickly and effectively from the attack.
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App Sec Supports Digital Transformation Initiatives
In the era of the global pandemic, digital transformation is happening at a rapid pace and many businesses have been forced to go digital owing to concerns of business continuity and shifting customer behavior. Digital transformation involves new processes and methodologies, newer workflows, transformed ways of working and other significant changes to business functioning – all aimed at faster delivery of safer digital products to customers. While 69% of C-level executives hold that digital transformation is vital to business growth, 64% believe that security is a significant driver of digital transformation.
When backed by an advanced cloud application security program, businesses can accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and obtain new opportunities. Such security programs offer greater real-time visibility into the IT environment, including networks, apps, data, and systems. Attacks can therefore be stopped before they happen and vulnerabilities remediated before attackers find them.
When integrated with the core application platform, such advanced security programs can automate security tasks and workflows for greater accuracy and improved response time. Businesses can deliver services faster and in a secure fashion without fear of downtime and crashes.
Businesses today use several third-party services and shared components in their applications for improved functionality. They are also adopting the cloud to speed up applications. With a next-gen, managed, and intuitive web application security solution like AppTrana, businesses can ensure that these services are updated, secure, and do not erode the performance of your application.
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App Sec Enables Business Agility
Strong security enables businesses to make the most of their digital transformation initiatives and promote innovation. While 69% of C-level executives say that they are reluctant to innovate in areas where there are higher perceived security risks, 39% say they have had to halt mission-critical initiatives owing to security concerns.
Preventive approaches have too many restrictive checks and balances that hinder innovation and business agility. Further, attackers tend to find a way around preventive security. New-age security solutions tend to take a detection and response strategy rather than the traditional prevention approaches.
