Security for full application stack critical

New research from Cisco AppDynamics has found a lack of insight into security vulnerabilities and collaboration between IT operations and security teams is putting applications, end users, and organisations at risk.

‘The shift to a security approach for the full application stack’ report highlights how the acceleration of digital transformation to meet shifting customer needs and enable hybrid work has created application security challenges. According to the research, 92% of technologists admit the rush to innovate has come at the expense of robust application security during software development. Almost nine in 10 (89%) report that their organisation has experienced an expansion in its attack surfaces over the last two years.

As new threats expose flaws in current app security approaches, IT departments are increasingly turning to a DevOps approach, where app security and compliance testing are integrated within the development lifecycle. According to the report, 76% of technologists now regard a DevSecOps approach as critical for organisations to effectively protect against a multi-staged security attack on the full application stack — 43% say they’ve already started and 46% are considering a transition.

In addition to cultural change, survey respondents recognise the need for new tools and technologies to adopt a security approach for the full application stack to deliver unified real-time visibility across the entire IT environment. Automation and AI are seen as essential elements for IT teams trying to cope with increased security threat volumes across multicloud environments.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Vladimir_Timofeev