With the number, complexity, and costs of data breaches accelerating rapidly, you can’t afford to leave your application security strategy undefined or rely on the diligence of third parties. Even one minor misconfiguration can open the door for malicious actors, compromising your application and exposing you to financial, legal, and reputation risks.
A strong application security strategy helps you develop more resilient applications and proactively identify, track, and mitigate vulnerabilities throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC) before they can be exploited by hackers.
An application security strategy is a structured, proactive approach to protecting your applications from cyberattacks during the SDLC.
Traditional infrastructure security focuses on perimeter-based models, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and endpoint protection. These methods assume that access can be blocked by tightening up the “fence” around your assets.
Although these measures have a place, they’re not adequate for securing applications, which typically live outside the perimeter. Client-side code, unsecured devices, and public APIs are all impervious to traditional security models. An AppSec strategy closes the gap by protecting your application where it runs and where threats are most likely to occur. It addresses risks such as:
A strong AppSec security strategy is a multifaceted approach that covers vulnerabilities and potential security breaches at all stages of the SDLC. Security has to be top of mind from the earliest design phase for effective risk management. The following components form the foundation of a robust Application Security (AppSec) strategy.
Secure applications start with secure code. Implementing secure coding guidelines through best practices or a Security-as-Code (SaC) model can help you avoid coding errors that can introduce vulnerabilities into your codebase. These guidelines should include security standards such as:
Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) can complement these practices by detecting issues in real time as code is executed.
Your team should be adequately trained in proper code security and keep them updated on security developments, such as the latest version of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Top 10.
Threat modeling is the process of identifying potential vulnerabilities and proactively addressing risks before they can be exploited. It provides a comprehensive view of your systems and helps mature your security posture.
Threat modeling software and tools can streamline the process. Some standard tools and frameworks include STRIDE and OWASP Threat Dragon. Regardless of the tools you use, the basic steps include:
One of the most important aspects of a comprehensive AppSec strategy is implementing in-app protections. These measures secure apps from the inside to guard against threats such as reverse engineering, code tampering, runtime attacks, and data theft.
Tools such as PreEmptive’s Dotfuscator, DashO, and JS Defender work within your platform as a first line of defense against app-based hacking attempts.
Some of the most effective in-app protection measures include:
Obfuscation makes it harder for attackers to reverse-engineer your application by encrypting your code, altering the execution paths, renaming elements, and scrambling assets and layout data.
RASP works by monitoring the app at runtime and detecting suspicious activity that could indicate an attack. It protects against attacks such as:
Tamper detection prevents attacks such as intellectual property (IP) theft, cloning, data manipulation, and malware injection. It works by validating checksums and signatures and checking for fraudulent versions of the app.
Malicious actors—increasingly empowered by AI tools—are continually discovering new attack vectors. Some infiltrations can last for months or years before they’re discovered.
Continuous monitoring can detect anomalies in traffic patterns, telemetry, and log-ins that can alert you to suspicious activity. The sooner you identify an instance of unauthorized access, the sooner you can shut it down and mitigate the vulnerability that allowed it.
These post-deployment insights can improve your future security efforts through a DevSecOps feedback loop. Each iteration you make based on feedback will lead to stronger, more resilient products and security teams.
Creating a formal application security strategy will amplify your defenses and build a security culture within your organization.
Begin by identifying your critical applications and components that need the highest levels of protection. Prioritize your risks based on factors such as potential severity, impact, and likelihood of occurrence.
Regulatory obligations (e.g., General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) should also factor heavily into your prioritization.
Vulnerabilities that can be exploited with automation will have a big impact on your operations and should be prioritized. If you’re using a threat modeling tool, it can rank security risks based on severity and potential impact.
Automated tools are an essential part of AppSec strategy, as application security is far too complex for manual security procedures to be effective. Evaluate your existing continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD) pipeline to identify opportunities to automate security checks throughout the SDLC.
Set up your tools to enforce code quality standards. Incorporating tools into the integrated development environment (IDE) provides the added benefit of offering immediate feedback to developers, helping them establish better habits. Quality gates can define rules that must be met before code can proceed to the next stage.
Involve your DevOps team early in tool evaluations to improve adoption. The best-fit tools will blend seamlessly into your workflow, supporting fast and iterative development.
A shift left approach makes security everyone’s responsibility. However, it can easily become no one’s responsibility without clear ownership and established policies. A RACI matrix can outline different levels of responsibility, including:
Ownership responsibilities will vary depending on the team member’s roles. Some common examples include:
Establishing security-driven key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you evaluate your progress:
After implementing an application security strategy, review your procedures and policies to identify areas of vulnerability or exposure. Some common areas where AppSec strategies fall short include:
Different automated tools can enable AppSec at various stages in the SDLC. Some of the most useful tools include:
Static analysis tools help detect security vulnerabilities early by scanning source code for flaws before the application runs. By integrating these tools into your IDE or CI pipeline, development teams can receive immediate feedback, enforce coding standards, and prevent insecure code from being committed.
Pre-runtime scanning reduces rework, improves code quality, and helps shift security left in the SDLC. Kiuwan’s Code Security tool can scan your code before runtime, allowing you to find flaws, bad code, and vulnerabilities before they’re committed to the codebase.
Almost all modern applications are built on open-source or third-party components. With more attackers gaining unauthorized access through supply chain software, it’s critical to understand precisely what code components are in your source code. Kiuwan’s Insights SCA helps you manage open-source risks in your software applications.
Implement tools in your CI/CD pipeline that will enforce secret hygiene through pre-commit hooks. This prevents hardcoding sensitive data, such as API tokens, credentials, and encryption keys, which can be exploited by hackers.
Runtime protection and code obfuscation guard your application against threats that only become an issue when it’s in use—such as reverse engineering, IP theft, and exploits.
Tools like PreEmptive provide runtime protections against such threats, such as obfuscation, tamper detection, and runtime application self-protection (RASP). These integrate into your DevSecOps flow and defend against runtime exploits in both web and mobile apps.
Imagine that a rapidly growing startup company developed a competitive financial analytics platform. However, they faced security challenges due to regulatory demands and the risk of potential IP theft. The platform ran on proprietary software that competitors were positioned to steal and integrate into existing platforms, which would erode the company’s competitive advantage.
To overcome these issues, the team implemented a layered AppSec defense strategy, beginning with the enforcement of application security best practices. They implemented SAST to enforce coding standards and regulatory compliance, which helped them mitigate the risk of a high-profile breach that could have bankrupted a new startup. They also used SCA to identify open-source risks. This allowed them to find components with licensing requirements that could expose their IP.
Before the application was deployed, the team implemented PreEmptive for obfuscation and tamper detection, which allowed them to reduce reverse engineering risks.
Layering in security procedures throughout the SDLC enables them to improve compliance reporting, eliminate many security issues, and protect their app against tampering without impacting the app’s performance.
Application security isn’t a one-and-done proposition—it’s a dynamic process that has to be woven throughout the SDLC. A multi-layered approach is the only way to cover all of the potential security threats that hackers can exploit.
Application-layer protection in mobile, distributed, and desktop systems is crucial to a mature cybersecurity posture. If your AppSec strategy isn’t fully developed, evaluate your security processes and procedures to address any weaknesses. Utilize in-app protection, such as PreEmptive, for layered security. Reach out today to request a free trial.
Yes, small and mid-sized companies are frequent targets, especially those handling sensitive data or proprietary code. A solid AppSec strategy helps protect your business from breaches, downtime, loss of reputation, and regulatory fines.
Not if you use the right tools. PreEmptive applies code obfuscation and runtime protection in ways that preserve app speed and user experience.
Shifting security left may extend early phases slightly, but it avoids costly rework later. Tools like Kiuwan scan code automatically during builds, helping you catch issues early without blocking releases.
Network security protects systems and infrastructure. AppSec secures the application itself and guards code, logic, and runtime behavior from direct exploitation.
Look for tools that cover each stage: