THE AUTHOR
Christian Twiste
Chief Digital Officer
Modern applications help businesses gain real-time insights, add new competencies for cost reduction, and create engaging experiences for customers. There is the added advantage of data security that modern apps offer.
Data privacy and security have emerged as major challenges for businesses, and this will become an increasingly difficult issue to face as the digital transformation of businesses continues at a rapid pace and the digitization of new data adds more responsibility. This blog explores the ideal application modernization strategy to follow, some of its challenges and offers solutions that you can consider to mitigate risk and secure your data.
Cybersecurity Threats
Surveys reveal that cybersecurity threats are limiting executives’ capabilities to secure the organization’s systems. In 2018, a leading hotel chain experienced a data breach that compromised the personal data of up to 500 million customers. The infringement was caused by a vulnerability in a legacy reservation system that had not been updated with modern security features. Modernizing the application could have prevented the breach and protected sensitive customer information.
Vulnerabilities in Open-Source Applications
It’s not surprising that these threats are making your business vulnerable to cyberattacks when it comes to web applications and open-source applications, that are susceptible to attacks by botnets. Did you know that 80 percent of the app code used possibly comes from open source?
The Equifax data breach in 2017 compromised the personal data of 143 million people. The attack was possible because of a vulnerability in an open-source software component that had not been updated. By managing vulnerabilities in software and regularly updating components, businesses can reduce the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches. Engaging with reliable Cloud service providers adds an extra layer of security to your applications, especially those reliant on open source components.
Benefits of Enhanced Cloud Security
The increased security offered by modern applications ensures fewer cyber hacks of your network and reduces the risk of data loss. By mitigating the risks of cyberattacks you also protect your brand reputation that would otherwise be tarnished due to a single incident, an important risk protection factor that will be difficult to quantify. So, if you are considering app modernization , it’s time to implement your modernization plans.
Microservices Architecture
Legacy applications are vulnerable to cyber threats due to their typical and monolithic architectures. They have single failure points that can bring down the whole application when hackers exploit that vulnerability. Modern applications on the other hand aren’t developed as monoliths. In fact, they utilize sets of microservices, which are small modules that are interoperable yet independent.
The modules ensure quick and simple upgrades of a microservice or for that matter a mix of microservices when new functionality is available. And this includes the security functionality too. Based on a study by the International Data Corporation (IDC), businesses that use microservices architecture reported a 40% reduction in downtime and a 30% improvement in security. The modular design of microservices makes them less susceptible to cyber threats and they are easier to update and maintain.
When you have a microservices architecture, a susceptibility in one will rarely affect the others. This is how modern applications are extra secure, and engaging with Cloud service providers further enhances this security posture.
Public Cloud
Cloud isn’t inevitably safer, but the public cloud providers like AWS and Azure , spend heavily on technologies that make them nearly impossible to breach, and very few businesses can match this investment commitment. Microsoft intends to quadruple its cybersecurity investment to a whopping $20 billion in the next 5 years. In a survey conducted by Microsoft, 94 percent of businesses that moved their applications to the cloud reported an improvement in security. Public cloud providers like AWS and Azure offer a wide range of security features and services that businesses can leverage to enhance their security.
Cloud migration allows you to lift and shift modern applications to the cloud environment, unlike legacy solutions. Modern apps are intrinsically adept at incorporating and interoperating with secure technologies and embracing them will mitigate your risk exposure.
Just a few years back, some businesses were hesitant to shift to the public cloud. Times have changed. Today, businesses that have moved to the cloud have improved capabilities at reduced costs , and they are well-equipped to take on evolving market dynamics. The cloud migration approach not only enhances security but also provides scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness for businesses in today’s dynamic and competitive
Secure DevOps
Secure DevOps help you to proceed with security testing quite early to detect problems and resolve them quickly and cost-effectively, and at the same time maintain timely delivery of your modern applications, a crucial aspect in the context of cloud migration.
Many organizations utilize individual cloud resources during their cloud migration journey. This ownership could lead to siloed resources with problems concerning access, absence of visibility, compliance, and control issues resulting in critical security challenges.
DevSecOps lets you carry out iterative security tests, automated processes, and tools to ensure that security susceptibilities are resolved before things go out of control. Security must be incorporated at every stage of app development and businesses may improve security-linked efficiency in the initial phases of cloud development.
According to a report by Gartner, businesses that utilize DevOps practices experience 50 percent fewer security incidents than those that don’t. By integrating security into the development process, businesses can reduce vulnerabilities and improve their overall security position.
Why Korcomptenz?
We help our clients achieve more and remain competitive with a connected, secured, and scalable environment that has minimum complexities, zero security compromises, is disaster-proof and has a low downtime. Korcomptenz’s enterprise-level cloud adoption consultancy and advisory specializes in building, running, and managing our client’s current inelastic infrastructure, software, and applications in a hybrid environment that includes multiple clouds, on-premises, and the edge. As a certified Azure and AWS partner, our cloud service providers have empowered our clients to attain a multi-layered understanding of their daily operations, turning their IT cost center into a powerful tool to accelerate business model change, lowering TCO, and optimizing cloud investments with an ROI up to 10X.
Conclusion
You might be wondering where to start. A good way to begin is with an assessment to understand and evaluate your app development and app modernization requirements, including security. If you are in the cloud environment already or thinking of taking the plunge, consider an enterprise cloud security assessment today.
Engaging with experienced Cloud service providers can streamline this process, providing insights and recommendations tailored to your specific needs and ensuring a secure and efficient transition to the cloud.
Focus on you
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