More customers than ever electing to conduct their business through a smartphone or other mobile device. Faced with an ever-growing number of many mobile users, choosing to develop their very own app is no longer something businesses can afford to see as being optional. While a well-designed mobile app can be a real asset, businesses that choose to overlook security concerns could be making a very costly misstep.
Creating an insecure app, either by failing to detect vulnerabilities during development or neglecting to address them through patches and updates can drastically increase the risk of a data breach.
What is Application Security?
Application security may refer to any efforts to protect the proprietary code used in the development of an app, features designed to protect against unauthorized access or steps that have been taken in order to ensure that sensitive data and information is less likely to be compromised.
Even a seemingly insignificant data breach could end up doing lasting harm to a business’s brand and reputation. Mobile apps that may be less than secure can be a very serious liability, one that hackers, malware and other online threats may be able to leverage in order to facilitate an attack.
Understanding the True Cost of a Breach
While any company or organization can find itself the target of a cyber attack, businesses that have been breached in the past are more likely to be seen as a potential security liability by their clientele and peers. Investing in the necessary application security tools, services and other resources that may be needed in order to ensure that mobile software and digital applications are able to be made as safe and secure as possible can make quite a difference.
Allowing a data breach to tarnish your business’s brand or do damage to its reputation could end up costing you far more than you might have thought possible.
Developing a Secure Application
Common mistakes like failing to conduct adequate testing before releasing an app, failing to address software bugs and errors that may be present within the code or even neglecting to consider application security entirely can be a recipe for disaster.
Working with inexperienced programmers, neglecting to provide the development team with the tools and resources they may require or overlooking new trends and emerging threats are also missteps that businesses would do well to avoid. Organizations that see app security as anything less than a top priority may find themselves hard pressed to prevent a data breach.
Supporting an Existing App
Just because a mobile application is secure today does not always mean it will continue to remain so in the days ahead. Not every error may be detected during the development cycle and some bugs and issues which may constitute an underlying security risk may go unnoticed for months or even years after an app has been released.
Continuing to test an application against the latest security threats and releasing patches and updates to ensure that users and their data can be kept safe from harm can be just as important as the initial testing and security assessment performed during development. Supporting an app for the duration of its lifespan is another security concern that your business cannot afford to take lightly.
Addressing Specific Issues
Issues and vulnerabilities that are detected need to be corrected without delay. While it may be tempting to put off patching an issue or resolving a software bud until the next update is released, failing to take prompt and effective action in order to address the problem can often be quite risky.
Businesses and organizations who are lax in their responsibility to maintain an app or to correct issues which may constitute a security threat may be far more likely to suffer the consequences of a data breach as a result of their negligence. Constant vigilance, long-term support and a readiness to act in order to correct any problems that may develop will help to ensure that mobile applications can be kept as safe and secure as possible.
While developing a dedicated mobile application can be of tremendous benefit to a business, failing to address security concerns can have disastrous consequences. Creating and maintaining the most secure application possible helps to minimize the risks associated with a data breach.