Research reveals 50% of apps have security vulnerabilities

February 19, 2021

WhiteHat Security, provider of application security, released AppSec Stats Flash Volume 2. WhiteHat’s AppSec Stats Flash debuted last month and is a new monthly, contemporary podcast and report format that provides a more accurate view of the current state of application security. In this month’s episode, WhiteHat Security’s Setu Kulkarni, VP, Corporate Strategy & Business Development, and Zach Jones, Senior Director of Detection Research are joined by Alan Snyder, CEO of NowSecure, to discuss the state of mobile application security by examining detection data and the likelihood of vulnerability.

“In 2021, we have more detailed security and breach data than ever before. Yet, the state of application security remains very concerning. No application is built the same way and therefore each presents an entirely unique attack surface,” said Kulkarni. “That, combined with the fact that applications today are increasingly polymorphic presenting web, mobile and API-based interfaces, makes application security a multi-dimensional challenge.”

Additional findings include:

Research indicated at least 50% of applications in industries such as manufacturing, public services, healthcare, retail, education and utilities, are vulnerable throughout the year due to one or more serious exploitable vulnerabilities.
Data analysis found as more industries pivot to become online-first, the Window of Exposure continues to remain abnormally high, leading to increased vulnerability.
Since last month, statistics showed there was a 5-day improvement in a 12-mo rolling average time to fix critical applications, decreasing to 189 days from 194 days.
The February volume of WhiteHat Security AppSec Stats Flash found that only five of WhiteHat’s ten most common risk detections are represented in the OWASP Top 10.

Jones added, “There is an interesting differentiation between the education tool of the OWASP Top 10 list and the vulnerabilities that we see at WhiteHat being the most detected in applications."

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