In today’s app-centric world, users are connecting from various locations and devices onto applications that are spread over multiple environments. This means apps are a gateway to critical customer data, making them the target of cybercrime. With 86% of the data breaches occurring at the app level, it is no surprise the application security market is projected to grow to $12.9 bn by 2025. Companies want to strengthen their app ecosystem by ensuring their apps are secure even as they allow for a smooth and seamless customer experience.
Today, companies need to tackle a variety of app-layer attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and cookie poisoning, to secure multiple endpoints round the clock. As a result of hybrid work models gaining traction, cloud application security threats, lack of VPN usage, poor encryption of data, and misconfigurations are exposing networks to increased security risks.
Dhananjay Ganjoo, managing director, India and Saarc, F5 (an American company specialising in application security, multi-cloud management, online fraud prevention and more), says, “As app environments evolve and expand, the importance of an overarching app security strategy that implements a multi-layered approach and a more coordinated security effort across all teams that play a part in the app lifecycle, is heightened.” The recently launched F5 Distributed Cloud WAAP (Web Application and API Protection) can address all the security concerns of an app-centric world through end-to-end observability. It further provides companies with valuable insights and telemetry from a centralised interface across their distributed app infrastructure. “F5 is set to empower Indian customers to offer their end customers differentiated digital experiences , which is vital in today’s dynamic and ever-changing landscape.”
India was among the five countries with the highest number of cybersecurity incidents in 2020, witnessing more than 11,58,208 cyberattacks, as per a report of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). One of the most significant data leaks occurred when over 1.1 bn records were compromised from the Aadhaar database in 2018.
“Companies are struggling to balance a frictionless customer experience with upgrades to security and fraud defences that can keep up with rapidly evolving attacks,” says Ganjoo. “And if you are not keeping up, then you are falling behind. The dangers are high losses, abandoned transactions, and loss of customers. Organisations today want solutions to help deter unwanted bots and secure their modern, adaptive applications with proactive risk identification and real-time threat detection in every environment, while saving on costs in the cloud,” he adds.
