Why You Need a Strong Cybersecurity Solution

2019 has been a year that saw many major state-level and corporate breaches, forcing governments and businesses to invest in advanced malware plans. Headlines constantly feature hackers attacking major organizations like Toyota, Facebook and Marriott — leaving millions at risk.

With most businesses being more and more dependent on digital systems for day-to-day operations, the need for a robust security architecture framework has become non-negotiable.

Let’s take a look at some reasons why your business needs the very best cybersecurity solution.

Protection of customers and employees

When your company experiences a data breach, everything from an Excel spreadsheet to the entire company database can be accessed and misused. This can lead to unauthorized log-ins or complete infrastructural breakdown, putting employee and customer data at risk and threatening your business’s bottom line

There are virtually limitless ways in which your business can be affected — the most common being compromising the company’s email server using phishing emails masquerading as official representatives, tricking customers into exposing their banking details.

Moreover, malicious software like ransomware can take over your company equipment — through perhaps an attached email — and hold your firm to ransom once it’s embedded. One such example of a high-profile attack was against the UK’s National Health Service, which affected the personal medical data of surgeries, hospitals, and clinics all across the country — a real wakeup call for organizations worldwide.

Earns Trust and protects productivity

Customer loyalty and trust is priceless. When your business is reputed to have a strong cybersecurity solution in place, it helps you earn the trust of not only customers but of potential business partners as well, putting you ahead of your less security-conscious competition.

The New York Times reported that the theft of customer data of US retail giant, Target, had a serious impact on the company’s profits. The massive drop in sales could’ve been avoided with a strong cybersecurity solution. Such solutions keep security breaches at bay or at least limits their severity, avoiding the risk of losing millions in addition to your customers’ faith.

The financial cost of a cyber attack

The most significant risk of a cyber-attack is the financial blow that the company has to bear. In 2016, Tesco ended up paying out £2.26m owing to a security breach that resulted in fraudulent removal of money from the bank accounts of around 20,000 customers. To make matters worse, Tesco was further fined £16.4m by the FCA, claiming that the bank failed to exercise due diligence in protecting its consumers against a cyberattack. Moreover, businesses are heavily fined if they don’t report breaches.

Cybersecurity reports warn CIOs that if businesses still leave their doors wide open to security breaches, despite the focus on the importance of cybersecurity, it’s their own fault!

That’s why at Lean Security, we aim to provide a comprehensive set of robust cyber security solutions including Web Application Vulnerability testing, malware detection services and cloud security assessments, and much more! From web security audits to penetration testing services our team of experts provides unprecedented online business solutions. Get in touch with us today for more information.

Static vs. Dynamic Code Analysis: Everything You Need to Know

The security development lifecycle (SDL) is a model that allows enterprises to place security front and centre while developing apps and products. This requires crafting a carefully constructed security plan, as well as code analysis—of both static and dynamic code. What do those terms mean and how are they both important? Let’s take a look. 

Static Analysis

Static code analysis is a debugging method for computer programs that is performed without executing the program. The purpose of static code analysis is to understand a program’s code structure and ensure that it meets industry standards, ensure that it’s safe from the threat of malware, and that it does not have any glaring bugs.

Developers and programs use automated tools and software to run static code analysis and scrutinize the code using visual inspection. With static analysis, fatal flaws and code errors can be detected way before the code is deployed or when it manifests itself in the form of a disaster.

Static code analysis is critical for building quality software, as errors often stay hidden for weeks, sometimes years, until triggered by certain conditions or inputs. A classic example is when Microsoft’s Zune line of music players was bricked by a New Year-related bug.

Dynamic Analysis

Before computer software is rolled out, most developers will execute the code and subject it to dynamic code analysis. The process involves:

· Preparing input data

· Launching a test program

· Defining parameters and gathering data

· Analysis of output data

Dynamic analysis works best for identifying vulnerabilities in a runtime setting. A developer can easily perform an analysis of parts that do not work as intended in the application while also looking for false negatives identified by the static analysis.  

Static vs. Dynamic

While both analyses are performed during code review, they each have unique benefits. Even though static code analysis can identify a large number of flaws, dynamic analysis is just as important, as it validates the findings of static code analysis.

Unique defects like uncalled functions, boundary value breaches, and unreachable code can only be detected by static code analysis.

When combined, static and dynamic code analyses are often referred to as glass box testing. While security solutions for websites and apps have far reaching impacts, automated tools often aren’t enough for a foolproof plan that safeguards the business from all sides.

Cybersecurity is a lot more than just code analyses and at Lean Security we provide extensive security assessments including vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, web application security scanning, DDoS protection and malware detection services.

Located in Gordon, New South Wales, businesses can get in touch with us via call at +61 (2) 8078 6952 or on our website.

Why You Should Include QA in Your Web App Development Process

The use of mobile applications has replaced desktop browsing. Thus, the development of mobile-friendly web applications has become an absolute necessity for businesses.

The ownership of smartphones and tablets increased in Australia from 11.1 million to 15.3 million in 2015. Ever since then, the numbers have only been rising. According to a survey, Australians spent 63% of their time on smartphones and other digital devices. Moreover, research conducted by Google shows that 84% of consumers use their mobile phones to help them shop even when they’re in the store.

When web applications are becoming an integral part of the recent retail landscape, it’s extremely important for every business owner to make sure that their web app is up to date.

How can I ensure that? The answer to this question is simple: through quality assurance.

What’s Quality Assurance (QA)?

Quality assurance is essentially an umbrella term that refers to a number of tools and processes used to conduct thorough testing of an application to identify all the bugs and errors that might cause a negative impact on user experience. The purpose of QA is to make sure that a web application runs flawlessly and without any glitches.

Best Practices for QA

To ensure that your web application gets you optimum results, work with IT experts to include these QA practices in the development process of your app.

Compatibility Testing: Your web application’s design should be mobile-friendly.

Performance Check: The web app shouldn’t crash under any circumstances, including instances of heavy load on servers.

Evaluate all Elements: Test all the features and elements separately to maximise security, instead of running security checks on the web application as a whole.

Benefits of QA in Web Application Development Process

Here’s why including quality assurance in your web application development process is necessary.

It Saves Money

A faulty web application can cost you more than a financial loss; you can end up losing your customers and suffering a blow to your brand’s reputation. By conducting thorough QA tests, you can save yourself all that trouble and some cash!

It Maximises User Experience

User experience (UX) is an important determinant of your app’s popularity. By making sure all glitches, bugs and errors are taken care of before the release of the app; you can make sure your customers have the best time engaging with your brand.

It Promotes Productivity

By conducting QA tests during the mobile application development process, you can fix the problems in real-time. Now that you know no unauthorised personnel can hack into your system, your customers’ information is safe and the app work flawlessly. You can enjoy peace of mind and work on other important aspects of your business.

Looking for a managed security and IT solutions company to run quality assurance tests on your web application? Get in touch with Lean Security today!

We offer a number of security solutions and test for web applications, including penetrating testing, vulnerability scanning and cloud security assessment.

Connect with us today to learn more about how we can help you keep your web app up to date!

6 Necessary Security Software for Small Businesses

A survey discovered that 1 out of 3 Australian businesses are a prime target for cybercriminal activity. And unfortunately, 56% of small businesses in Australia don’t have adequate protective measures in place to prevent cyberattacks. Consequently, they end up facing devastating impacts caused by data breaches, which include information theft, loss of customer trust, revenue loss and more.

To help you fortify the security of your system, we present to you six necessary security software that you must invest in!

1. Antivirus

Your computers and mobile devices are vulnerable to cyberattacks, and the presence of a virus can make your entire system useless. Thus, it’s extremely important to invest in antivirus software such as Norton, which will help you keep your system clean so you can enjoy maximum protection for your business.

2. Network Security

Network security protects businesses from falling prey to harmful spyware and losing data and critical information. You can secure your network by using an encrypted Wi-Fi, and making sure your data stays safe.

3. Anti-Spyware

Spyware are malicious software that hide in a computer system, spy on the online activity and extract critical information such as credit card details and personal information to possibly use in fraud and other criminal activities. To prevent your business’s operating system from the infiltration of spyware, you need to invest in anti-spyware software that’ll ensure the privacy of your system.

4. Firewalls

To prevent hackers, viruses and unauthorised personnel from gaining access to your system, you need to put up a firewall. The rules of firewall software are customisable; the business owner can add or remove filters such as IP addresses, domain names and more.

5. Bots Mitigation

Bots attack a business’s system to extract sensitive data and place spam posts on its website. With bot management and mitigation software you can identify if the requests to access your website are made by real people or automated bots.

6. Encryption Software

Encryptions are essentially your data turned into secret codes; encrypted data can only be viewed by authorised personnel, which prevents sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.

Let Us Help You!

Fortify your small business’s security with the IT solutions provided by Lean Security!

We’re a managed security and IT solutions company based in Sydney, Australia. We offer our clients excellent penetration testing services, network vulnerability assessment and quality assurance services, to help them keep their security systems in top condition!

Call us at +61 (2) 8078 6952 for more information.

4 Mobile Application Development Mistakes to Avoid

Mobile applications have become an integral part of businesses in the recent digital landscape. They help you gain and retain consumers by allowing you to engage with them directly, assessing consumer behaviours, and enhancing their experience while interacting with your business.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia, more than 27% of Australian consumers use mobile applications to purchase products at least once a week and 5% of them do so daily.

But if the application glitches out, has bugs, takes long to load or experiences other types of errors, 51% of users are likely to stop using your application. This can lead to decreased conversion rates, loss of customer loyalty and a ruined business reputation.

To prevent this from happening, you should make sure you avoid making these mistakes in your mobile application development process.

1. No Data Encryption

Security of data should be your first priority when you’re developing an application for your business. One way to make sure that it stays safe is to translate it into a secret code, called encryption. Developers often remove the certificate validation while developing the app and the finished products end up without any form of data encryption.

This plain text is a vulnerable point all hackers try to exploit the first chance they get, and once they’re in your system they can access all your sensitive information. Thus, it’s absolutely necessary to include data encryption such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol, in the mobile app development process.

2. Unnecessary Features

When developing a mobile application, it’s wise to only stick with features that add value to the app. The more features you include, the greater the risk of data breaches there’ll be. Avoid using complex programs, not only are they costly to maintain, but they’re also fragile and vulnerable to cyberattacks.

3. Weak Server Controls

Your mobile application works on servers that are either your own or belong to a third party. Weak server controls can fall prey to cyberattacks very easily. It’s important for you to take measures to maximise the security of these servers, and make sure no unauthorised personnel can gain access to the critical data.

4. Inadequate Security Testing

Security testing often takes the back seat with mobile application development. And even when organization conduct security test, they often make the mistake of treating their app as a whole instead of checking all the small integral parts of the system.

The importance of security testing during the process of mobile application development can’t be stressed enough! To prevent your data and your business from all kinds of security threats, you need to get in touch with a managed security and IT solutions company and have their team perform a few crucial tests on your app. Make sure these tests include vulnerability scans, such as penetration testing, source code assessment and network assessment.

Connect with Lean Security Today!

Lean Security provides clients with excellent mobile application penetration testing, network vulnerability assessment and quality assurance services to help them keep their businesses safe and secure.

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help your business thrive!.