Today’s codebases are a behemoth mix of proprietary, legacy, and open-source code that is often siloed into departments with little communication — that can lead to security mistakes. To make matters even more complex, the data protection landscape continues to expand, with 75% of the global population currently covered under privacy regulations. And while the EU’s AI Act is the first regulation on artificial intelligence (AI), it certainly won’t be the last. The floodgates are likely to open as other nations and states follow, much like we saw after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect.
This assortment of code sources and compliance requirements makes security more complex yet mission-critical than ever. In this chaotic environment, developers make three common security mistakes in the software development lifecycle (SDLC), and they need to be avoided.
There are simply too many opportunities for exploitation in modern software applications for developers to create their tools or use ineffective — and potentially corrupt — free ones. The Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) currently lists over 600 categories. Keeping up with all of them isn’t a job for amateurs. Hackers are using sophisticated, AI-powered tools, and developers should, too.
Professional security tools can help development teams find and mitigate flaws in their code before malicious actors can exploit them. Static application security testing (SAST) tools examine code without executing it to find code flaws. They look at the internal structure of the code to find common security flaws such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (CSS) using pattern matching, data flow analysis, and control flow analysis.
Dynamic application security testing (DAST) tools test an application when it runs. They find flaws by simulating attacks on the code through the user interface, API, or network connections.
Other software security tools, such as those from PreEmptive, protect applications by obfuscating code and control flows, encrypting strings, and performing runtime checks such as root device checks to prevent hackers from gaining unauthorized access.
Unfortunately, no software security tool will protect a program from all vulnerabilities. Software security is a complicated task that requires everyone’s diligence and effort, along with an array of professional-grade tools.
Developers can’t adequately protect their applications if they don’t fully understand their codebase. Almost all modern applications are built on open-source code, which is a smart business move because it simplifies the development process and greatly speeds up the time to market for new applications.
In a business environment where the first-mover advantage can give companies a marked competitive advantage that can last for years, time efficiency alone is enough to use open-source code. However, open-source code does expose an application to vulnerabilities. The Open Source Vulnerabilities (OSV) database, which contains tens of thousands of open-source vulnerabilities, highlights the known weaknesses in open-source software. Even developers dedicated to checking for patches and keeping software updated can’t do so if they don’t realize they have a particular library or dependency in their software.
Software composition analysis (SCA) tools scan your codebase to detect third-party and open-source software, so developers understand their entire codebase, including all libraries and dependencies. They can also alert development teams to security vulnerabilities and prioritize them based on risk so developers can address them in order of importance.
SCA tools also provide insight into licensing compliance issues, helping teams avoid violating licensing terms and potentially risking their intellectual property.
Developers understand that security is a top priority. Still, due to time or budget constraints or a lack of knowledge, many put security aside as an issue to address immediately before deployment. This is a mistake for many reasons, including:
To avoid this mistake, developers should take a “shift left” approach to security. This DevSecOps approach integrates security from the earliest stage of development and makes it everyone’s responsibility. Some important DevSecOps best practices include:
PreEmptive provides a suite of complete security solutions for web-based or mobile applications. We provide a multi-tiered, comprehensive approach to application security through obfuscation, runtime checks, string encryption, and more. Our solutions are custom-made for specific development environments and protect against tampering, reverse engineering, and other threats. We have a hardening solution if you need protection for desktop, mobile, cloud, or Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Over 5,000 companies trust us to provide Java, Android, iOS, .NET, and JavaScript solutions. Reach out today for a free trial of our industry-leading app protection software.