In the past 30 years, almost all types of crime have decreased dramatically, with violent crime falling by almost 50%. The one exception to this good news is cybercrime. Data breaches are up 72% in just two years. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and frequent. As software becomes more deeply ingrained in business operations and daily life, any vulnerability leaves companies open to significant financial, legal, and reputation damage.
To counter these threats, development teams must proactively manage and mitigate potential security risks from the earliest stages of development. Developers can’t wait to address security at the last minute before deployment. This shift-left approach is possible thanks to automated tools and technologies that drastically accelerate code reviews and protection measures. Kiuwan and PreEmptive are leading the field by offering innovative solutions that protect applications from every angle and at every phase of the software development lifecycle.
Kiuwan is an end-to-end application security platform that improves code security and quality through automated scanning. PreEmptive obfuscates code and provides runtime protection that prevents reverse engineering and runtime attacks. Together, these tools give developers a comprehensive security solution that addresses preventive measures during the development phase and protective actions at and following deployment.
Although there are an almost endless number of ways hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in software, here’s a description of the most common and devastating types of attacks:
In addition to these common vulnerabilities, hackers can reverse engineer software to determine how it works and access confidential information. Applications that contain proprietary algorithms or business logic are particularly at risk for this type of attack, as it can lead to intellectual property theft or the creation of counterfeit software. Reverse engineering can also expose security mechanisms and sensitive internal data, which can be exploited to undermine the software’s security measures.
Kiuwan allows developers to incorporate security strategies into software development by offering comprehensive code analysis tools that identify and fix security vulnerabilities early. Kiuwan SAST scans source code for potential security issues, coding errors, and quality defects before deployment.
Kiuwan Insights (SCA) is a software composition analysis tool that checks the codebase for third-party and open-source code. This allows developers to protect against open-source vulnerabilities they might not otherwise be aware of. Kiuwan complies with major security standards, including OWASP Top 10, PCI DSS, and CWE/SANS Top 25.
Tools from PreEmptive improve code security by protecting software from reverse engineering and tampering. One key technique PreEmptive uses is obfuscation. Obfuscation makes the code difficult to read and understand by altering names, encrypting strings, and adding misleading instructions. This makes it almost impossible for malicious actors to reverse engineer applications without changing how the program is executed.
PreEmptive’s shielding techniques add another layer of security through encryption and control flow obfuscation. These methods disguise the true logic of the code, making it more difficult for hackers to analyze or tamper with the software. PreEmptive also incorporates runtime checks to detect and respond to tampering or debugging attempts for application security during execution.
Application security is a complex undertaking that requires a multi-layered approach. Integrating Kiuwan and PreEmptive into a DevSecOps workflow secures software from early in the development phase through post-deployment. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting started:
Begin by setting up Kiuwan in the development environment. Install Kiuwan Local Analyzer for local access or configure it directly within the CI/CD pipeline using available plugins for tools like Jenkins, Azure DevOps, or GitHub Actions.
Next, set up Kiuwan to analyze code according to specific security rules and standards that are relevant to the project. Automate the scanning process to run Kiuwan analysis on each commit or as part of the daily build process. Any new code will be checked for vulnerabilities before it merges into the main branch.
As vulnerabilities are identified and detailed in Kiuwan reports, developers should review them and take action. The reports categorize items based on their severity and provide guidance on remediation. Prioritize and fix the most critical vulnerabilities first, using Kiuwan’s recommendations to modify the code. Regularly re-run the analyses to track progress and ensure all issues are addressed.
After the code is analyzed and vulnerabilities are fixed with Kiuwan, integrate PreEmptive’s Dotfuscator for .NET or DashO for Java into the build process. Development teams can do this through script automation or plugins.
Once installed, developers can configure the settings for code obfuscation, string encryption, and other protections based on the sensitivity and risk profile of the application. They can customize the level of obfuscation and runtime protection to balance performance and security.
Application security isn’t a one-and-done proposition. Developers have to stay vigilant and continuously monitor and update security measures. They can use the dashboards and reporting tools provided by both Kiuwan and PreEmptive to adjust configurations based on ongoing feedback and emerging security threats.
As part of continuous improvement, development teams should periodically review and refine both the analysis rules in Kiuwan and the protection settings in PreEmptive so they align with new security standards.
When you use PreEmptive and Kiuwan together, you’re protecting your code from the earliest stages. A proactive, layered security strategy is your best chance to avoid becoming the latest victim in a high-profile data breach. Reach out today to request a free trial.