The past few years have seen a tremendous increase in the number and severity of successful attacks aimed at the application layer. Therefore, to truly address the risk enterprises are facing from cyberattackers of all kinds, companies must secure the three main access points to digital data: network, hardware and the software that supports their business operations.

 

Yet, in the world of IT security, application security is typically the final layer of security an organization uses to protect data. The reasons for this vary, depending on the organization, but generally fall into one of three buckets: a lack of time, resources or budget. Organizations typically find perimeter and network security relatively easy to understand and implement, since they only require an IT team to purchase a firewall or endpoint security solution and then configure it properly.

 

Application security, on the other hand, is less clear to organizations and rife with misconceptions, including the idea that embarking on an application security program requires excessive amounts of time, people and money.