Who is responsible for application security within your organization? While this is something I don't hear asked very often, when I look around the implied answer is the security team. This isn't just limited to application security either. Look at network security. Who, in your organization, is responsible for network security? From my experience, the answer is still the security group. But is that how it should be? Is there a better way? Security has spent a lot of effort to take and … [Read more...] about Application Security and Responsibility
General
Reliance on 3rd Party Components
It was just recently announced that Apple will no longer be supporting QuickTime for Windows. Just like any other software, when support has ended, the software becomes a security risk. As a matter of fact, there are current known vulnerabilities in QuickTime that will never get patched. The Department of Homeland Security has an alert recommending removal of QuickTime for Windows. For users, it may seem simple: Uninstall QuickTime from your Windows system. But wait.. what about software … [Read more...] about Reliance on 3rd Party Components
Security in Testing Environments
When it comes to creating applications, there is a need for multiple environments to support the development process. It typically starts on the developers own computer, then on to an integration environment, a QA testing environment, possibly a UAT (User Acceptance Testing) environment, and then finally production. Depending on your organization, you may have some, none, or all of these different environments. When it comes to security, the focus is typically on the production environment. … [Read more...] about Security in Testing Environments
The Hidden Reason for Switching to HTTPS
If you run a website, you have probably debated on whether or not you need to make the switch to HTTPS instead of using HTTP. For those that still don't know, HTTPS is the encrypted version of HTTP. This is typically seen on banking sites, touted to protect your sensitive information when transmitted between you (your browser) and the application. I wrote on this topic about a year ago in the post: Is HTTP being left behind for HTTPS? Back then there was a big push for making the switch … [Read more...] about The Hidden Reason for Switching to HTTPS
When One Testing Solution Isn’t Enough
Go to any conference, attend some webinars, or just do a search for application security testing solutions and you can quickly see the sheer number of solutions out there. As in every situation, there are some that are great and some that are not so great. With such great marketing, it is often very difficult to determine what is the best solution. All too often people are looking for that silver bullet. That one testing tool or pen testing company that will find everything. Unfortunately, … [Read more...] about When One Testing Solution Isn’t Enough
Application Registry: Knowing Your Assets
If an auditor asked you what applications exist on your network, how accurate do you think your answer would be? Do you have a repository or registry of the applications your company maintains? A good application security program starts with knowing what you have. Without this knowledge it is very difficult to understand the risk the applications bring to the company. Depending on the maturity of your application security program, the way that applications are registered can be very … [Read more...] about Application Registry: Knowing Your Assets