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APPLICATION SECURITY CONTROLS, BENEFITS, TYPES, AND FRAMEWORKS

Mike Puterbaugh - July 28, 2022


WHAT ARE APPLICATION SECURITY CONTROLS?

An application security control is a measure that restricts or blocks
applications from operating in a way that puts your data at risk. Security
controls depend on the business objectives of a particular application, but
their primary purpose is to ensure the security and confidentiality of data
transferred between and used by applications.

Application controls cover integrity checks, validation, identification,
authorization, authentication, input management, and forensics.

An application control strategy ensures the proper coverage, integrity,
confidentiality, and availability of applications and related data. The right
application controls allow organizations to reduce the various risks associated
with using applications significantly. They help protect against threats by
rendering applications inoperable if they expose networks and sensitive data.


ADVANTAGES OF USING APPLICATION SECURITY CONTROLS

Application security controls are an important part of a corporate security
program. They help prevent malicious actors from exploiting application
vulnerabilities and reduce the risk of a breach. Security controls also help
minimize the costs involved in containing attacks by improving the observability
of applications, network traffic, and data.

Organizations often categorize applications according to business objectives and
risk levels. It helps them evaluate and prioritize vulnerabilities. Controls are
customizable, so businesses can tweak them to suit different applications and
implement evolving security standards with minimal disruption to their
established workflows.

Allow and deny lists automatically control application execution, increasing
efficiency for large organizations with centralized mainframes. You can also
improve overall network reliability by identifying resource-intensive
applications and using application controls to configure related traffic.

Application security controls support new approaches to threat detection and
monitoring. For instance, they allow you to compare traffic to a baseline of
normal network behavior to identify anomalies.


TYPES OF APPLICATION SECURITY CONTROLS

Security teams use various techniques to secure applications based on functional
or tactical considerations. There are several ways to classify security
controls, although typically, organizations classify them by function:

 * Security testing controls—prevent vulnerabilities during development.
 * Access controls—block unauthorized users from accessing applications or
   authorized users from performing unauthorized actions.
 * Authentication—verifies the identity of entities (users, programs) requesting
   access to application resources.
 * Authorization—ensures that authenticated entities are authorized to access
   the requested resources.
 * Encryption—encrypts and decrypts sensitive data. Encryption controls often
   work at multiple network layers, within or outside the application.
 * Log controls—track and record all application activity to ensure
   accountability and provide investigation information.

Another approach to categorizing security controls focuses on how they protect
an application from attack:

 * Preventative controls—block security threats by focusing on vulnerabilities.
   For instance, encryption and access controls are measures that prevent
   attackers from accessing data, while security testing helps identify threats
   and vulnerabilities.
 * Corrective controls—mitigate the impact of an attack and implement fixes. For
   instance, patching tools help eradicate vulnerabilities.
 * Detective controls—help security teams identify when attacks occur. They are
   essential for securing applications. Examples include monitoring tools, AV
   scanners, and intrusion detection systems (IDS).


APPLICATION SECURITY CONTROL FRAMEWORKS

A security control framework (or standard) encompasses the processes and
information that define each control’s implementation and continuous management.

A framework allows organizations to consistently manage their security controls
for different assets based on commonly accepted and well-tested methods. Many
organizations use established frameworks to inform their internal security
control frameworks and policies.

A sound framework enables organizations to implement controls that enforce
security policies and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
It helps improve security operations, allows security teams to assess and
address risks, and informs security training for staff and other users.

Security solutions are as vulnerable as their weakest link. Therefore,
organizations should consider implementing multiple security control layers to
achieve in-depth defense. Application security controls should operate
throughout the IT ecosystem, including IAM, networking, physical infrastructure,
and data security.

Here are two of the most well-known security control frameworks:


THE NIST CYBERSECURITY FRAMEWORK

This framework, created by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
in 2014, provides guidelines to help organizations prevent, identify, and
respond to cybersecurity threats. It includes assessment techniques and
procedures that organizations can use to determine whether their security
controls function properly, are correctly implemented, and generate expected
results. This voluntary security framework benefits from constant updates to
meet organizations’ changing security requirements and incorporate the latest
advances in cybersecurity.


CIS CONTROLS

The CIS (Center for Internet Security) has created a list of defenses for
organizations to prioritize. It provides a good starting point for preventing
and identifying attacks. The CIS controls respond to the most widespread
cyberattacks referenced in security threat reports. A broad government- and
industry-supported community has scrutinized these controls to ensure their
effectiveness.


HOW TO IMPLEMENT APPLICATION CONTROLS

There are various ways to implement application security controls, although
generally, the process involves these steps:

 * Determining which applications can access a resource or perform a function.
 * Creating rules to govern application functions and prevent unauthorized
   applications from running.
 * Using a system to manage changes to application security rules.
 * Regularly evaluating and updating the rules and controls (at least annually).

Several techniques are useful for determining the application control
implementation strategy. For instance, organizations can create rules based on
cryptographic hashes, publisher certificates (tying products to publishers), and
path configurations (blocking unauthorized editing of file and folder contents
and permissions). On the other hand, using package or file names (or other
easily modified application properties) is not an effective way to implement
application controls.

Organizations must run regular tests to identify misconfigured file system
permissions, techniques to bypass application controls, and other
vulnerabilities to verify that application controls are in effect.

Application controls go beyond blocking unauthorized applications from executing
actions. They can help identify attempts by attackers to execute malicious
commands by generating event logs for approved and denied executions. Ideally,
these event logs should contain information such as the file name, date or time
stamp, and the username of the user trying to run the file.

A final important consideration is to ensure that application controls work
alongside existing security tools and antivirus software. Security controls are
not a replacement for traditional security solutions. Combining these solutions
provides a defense-in-depth security strategy to prevent system breaches.


APPLICATION SECURITY CONTROLS WITH PATHLOCK

Pathlock is the leader in Application Security and Controls Automation for
business-critical applications. Customers rely on Pathlock to streamline
critical processes like fine-grained provisioning, separation of duties, and
detailed user access reviews. Pathlock offers coverage for 140+ applications and
counting, with support for key applications like SAP, Oracle, Workday,
Dynamics365, Salesforce, and more.

With Pathlock, you can:

 * Configure policy-based access controls and enable automated policy
   enforcement
 * Automate user access management processes (e.g., role design, provisioning,
   de-provisioning, access recertification, emergency access management, and
   privileged access management)
 * Perform vulnerability assessment with over 4,000 pre-configured risk and
   threat scans to proactively avoid threats
 * Perform compliant provisioning at a transaction code or function level into
   both cloud and on-premise applications
 * Define Separation of Duties (SOD) rules, both within an application and
   across them, and enforce them to prevent access risks and stay compliant
 * Enrich User Access Reviews (UARs) with fine-grained entitlement details and
   usage about transactions performed with specific access combinations

Interested to learn more about Pathlock’s application security capabilities?
Request a demo today to see the solution in action!

Table of contents
 * What Are Application Security Controls?
 * Advantages of Using Application Security Controls
 * Types of Application Security Controls
 * Application Security Control Frameworks
 * The NIST Cybersecurity Framework
 * CIS Controls
 * How to Implement Application Controls
 * Application Security Controls with Pathlock

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