As the demand for more complex applications, programs and systems increases, their development becomes a real puzzle. In this scenario, development companies should know how to distribute the time and know-how of the teams involved, creating the best possible product. Among the obligations of innovative design and easy and efficient features, some points end up escaping. This is where the need for Vulnerability Management comes in.
And this concern is accentuated because, by relegate some pillars of software development to the detriment of others, your company takes on relevant risks.
Today, with technological advances, this can be a shot in the foot because, precisely, the threats are even more sneaky — and have high potential to harm your business.
No for nothing, losses from cyber attacks already generated losses of $1 trillion companies from various sectors in just one year.
The shocking thing about this number is that it is largely related to the vulnerability of the applications used.
The EdgeScan study “Vulnerability Report“, from 2019, brought some data that elucidate this.
According to analysis, almost 15% of detected vulnerabilities are cross site scripting. Among other points, we highlight the 5.7% of design errors that expose the source code and the 5.55% of SQL Injection.
Although it doesn’t seem like much, think carefully: how impactful can it be to be a mere cyberattack that exploits these loopholes? Yes, the potential for damage is enormous.
Therefore, understanding what Vulnerability Management is essential to adjusting the development routine. With the adoption of good practices and the right tools, its operation becomes more efficient and its solution completely safe, also protecting the user.
Ready to learn more? Keep reading!
Vulnerability Management: What is it?
Vulnerability Management is both a process as a proactive approach to security management. The goal is, through a routine of specific executions, to identify, analyze, classify and treat vulnerabilities.
With this, seeks to reduce exploits and flaws in source codeinfrastructures and software architectures that could compromise your security as well as your endpoints.
It is important to note that not all vulnerabilities are digital in nature or related to cybersecurity. They can have varied sources, such as physical and human. While, of course, the main thing is to evaluate the application from an operational point of view—which is limited to its architecture and development.
And how is this process conducted?
Vulnerability Management works to correct these factors by applying controls that minimize the impacts of these weaknesses—or, of course, correct them at once.
The important thing is to understand that Vulnerability Management is a process that is based on continuous improvement. That is, in monitoring the development of a draft application until before the final delivery.
Thus, the recurrent application of the analysis brings a reading of the evolution of the development of applications, measuring the progress or stagnation of actions.
How the Vulnerability Management process works
In Vulnerability Management, the process seeks to classify the failures identified in levels of importance. That is, the more impacting the application, the higher its level and the more urgent is the need for resolution.
To arrive at this result, specific techniques, good practices and methods, such as Static Application Security Testing (SAST) are used.
In the specific case of SAST, a dedicated platform analyzes the entire source code of the developed application up to that point. The great advantage is that with the support of an SAST platform, it is not necessary to run the application itself, because it analyzes the patterns only by the lines of code.
For this reason, the SAST platform is highly recommended for identifying critical risks, such as the threats already mentioned: Cross Site Scripting and IQS Injection, among others.
That is, analyses during the Vulnerability Management process can focus on different technology layers, evaluating application, host, or even network tier.
The process itself is usually quite flexible from company to company, but in general, it seeks to achieve three specific objectives. Check:
- Identification of all types of vulnerabilities, the most serious risks even configuration misconceptions and design rework;
- Documentation of vulnerabilities found, in order to facilitate the work of solving problems by developers;
- Guidance and hierarchy of the problems to be solved, in order to organize the resolution process together with the developers.
All this counting, of course, with the training of the team, the definition of process managers, production of reports and monitoring of performance and metrics involved.
Other steps can be included, but will depend on the process from company to company. In some organizations, patching and patching fixes on third-party tools they use is an essential part of good Vulnerability Management.
The importance of the Vulnerability Management process
It is not today that cyberthreats are a problem for developers and technology companies. However, as tools and resources evolve, the need for security increases.
More and more cyberattacks target companies, creating varied ways to hack into their systems and exploit loopholes, with scripts, cross site injection, applications, etc. They do this exhaustively, forcing digital defenses until they give in due to development failures.
By applying Vulnerability Management, your company goes beyond verifying specific flaws in some product, but understanding which internal practices are harmful to the integrity of the application.
In a way, Vulnerability Management is the first and most important step to shield your application development, enhancing the effectiveness of your security measures.
How bugScout can help you in this process
It is precisely to assist this process that specific tools and platforms are welcome. After all, this is an in-depth and highly judicious check. Therefore, resources are needed that can really contribute to the process, being the right arm of Vulnerability Management in the company.
The good news is that the bugScout solution is perfect for this mission.
Lightweight and 100% integrated with SonarQube, it is an SAST platform and IAST, New Year auditing the source code of your applications. It is the most complete and versatile solution on the market: multilingual, on site or cloud.
There are more than 5600 software quality and security rules in more than 35 programming languages. bugScout® has enormous potential, helping your productivity, as it can analyze millions of lines per hour with low consumption of technological resources.
A breakthrough for your vulnerability analysis and an essential layer in shielding your development process.
Want to understand how the bugScout solution can improve your company’s application development security? Talk to us!