The attack surface created by app-driven transformation is expanding rapidly, with 72 percent of the total number of attacks focused on user identities and applications, the gateway to personal data. As such, a larger portion of IT budgets should be allocated for the re-orientation of security around the applications.
This is according to Oscar Visaya, country manager of application delivery and application security solutions provider F5 Networks.
Visaya emphasized the need for a paradigm shift in how businesses and enterprises look at cybersecurity. According to him, security budgets today emphasize in less-grave risks such as protecting the network, which accounts for 90 percent of budget, with only 10 percent allocated for the most serious and common risks today which are user identities and applications.
“We cannot focus on the historical approach of incrementing forward as the application landscape is already changing the world one industry at a time. The growing number of applications, where most user data are stored, has tremendously increased the surface area of attack vectors and more apps directly mean that there are more opportunities and choices for attackers. Given this, a larger portion of IT budgets should be allocated for the re-orientation of security around the applications,” Visaya shared.
He further said that insufficient visibility and application awareness post serious security risks.