Getting Ahead of Software Vulnerabilities: Protecting Your Business

Can we predict the lives of we (humans)? How long we can stay alive? For sure we can’t because we aren’t aware of what may happen in the next moment. But that’s not the case with the things or products that are duly developed or manufactured by the hands and minds of humans. Although humans are unable to predict their own lives because their creator has the only power to do so. But the things that humans create can be easily predicted in terms of their existence. But how? In the case of software development, a developer and quality assurance team member knows well that to what extent their product or app will have a healthy life in the market. Because they do know if their software is free of vulnerabilities or not. And if not then are aware of its short-term life in the market as it can be easily exploited by the horrific creatures on the earth i.e Hackers. 

When it comes to the software development industry, a simple word is used to sum it up and i.e “Complexity”. This word is used because the software comes into the market after undergoing some challenging and complex working procedures. One of those complex procedures that a software product goes on is Software security testing. Software is the intangible product of man-made creation that can easily have some errors or glitches left untreated even after a careful evaluation process. That’s when security testing services come in. Sometimes minor glitches or vulnerabilities in the system or software untreated can lead an organization to face a list of challenges, return on investment, and market share on top of the list. To avoid such types of challenges via incurring heavy expenses and energy, it’s better to implement security testing from the early stages of a software development life-cycle. 

No doubt, It’s becoming more challenging to guard against the rising tide of vulnerabilities – particularly zero-day flaws – therefore we have come up with several key strategies enterprises can incorporate to help bolster their security.

Some of the basic data security measures that business can incorporate to avoid vulnerabilities in the software are as under;

Updating the software products regularly – Regularly installing the latest security patches and software updates is indeed an important measure to protect the network. Leaving outdated software makes devices and networks more susceptible to online vulnerabilities. By patching and updating the software regularly, you will be able to avoid security issues and vulnerabilities that developers have fixed through the released updates.

An appropriate Vulnerability Management Strategy – An organization that aims to tackle all the vulnerabilities in their developed software products and apps must draft a proper Vulnerability Management Strategy for two reasons. 

Firstly, to comply with the rules and standards of the International Standard Organization. Adding more to it, drafting a vulnerability management strategy allows organizations to develop and enhance visibility in the IT infrastructure. This helps ensure that your business can effectively respond to security risks promptly.

A poorly created strategy for vulnerability management is less likely to achieve significant results.  An organization that wants to create a successful vulnerability management strategy will implement a comprehensive set of security controls that will include a combination of the following:

• Human Resources – The people or individuals of an organization must have an appropriate set of skills and expertise to execute the drafted strategy to eradicate the vulnerabilities in the system effectively. 
• Process – Creating a vulnerability management strategy is one thing, however, its efficacy depends on the organization’s ability to build a solid strategy and implement the processes that are achievable and actionable. An effective strategy helps make quick decisions such as mitigation or remediation of discovered vulnerabilities.

Use of Accurate Security Testing tools – The market is overflooded with a variety of tools that can easily scan or track all the vulnerabilities in the system, maintain a record while saving the valuable hours of the teams. Using security testing tools makes an organization and its team members able to pay attention to the tasks and operations that require extensive efforts and energy or the tasks that are more valuable. With scrutiny of errors, defects, and vulnerabilities in time, timely fixtures can be made to make sure a software product and application is maximum free of all the threat actors. 

Keep in mind that before you plan to choose a security testing tool, check out its rate of reliability, scalability, accuracy, and reporting. One of the best tools in strengthening the security of a system include penetration testing tools. 

Monitor the Network strictly – No doubt it is of great significance and importance that your network is being evaluated and managed by a batch of highly skilled and expert information technology personnel. Businesses can also use monitoring tools that can help in identifying a breach before it inflicts the system. Seeing an attack early can allow businesses to take measures to prevent it from becoming worse.

A strong firewall must be built – To protect a network from any vulnerability and to avoid the future exploitations of these vulnerabilities by hackers, it’s important to build a potential configuring firewall. With help of building a firewall, your network will get easily protected by the threat actors as firewalls can control the online traffic that flows in and out of the network. 

Encryption of valuable data & information – Make sure you turn your network encryption is on and encrypt data when stored or sent online. Encryption converts your data into a secret code before you send it over the internet. This reduces the risk of theft, destruction, or tampering.

Wrap up 

If it’s software or a network, an organization must take some security measures to avoid all the threats that arise because of the malicious hackers being active in the market all time. To make sure the healthy and long life of your software products and applications, vulnerability assessment or security testing is highly valuable.