Many of the startup executives I meet think that application security is only for large companies, such as banks and government agencies. After all, these organizations have a lot of data to secure, established reputations to worry about, and trusted brands to protect. Startups do not have those things (yet), nor do they have the money to invest in anything that will not help them reach the next round of financing. They are focused on acquiring customers to establish better brand recognition. So, it is easy to understand why startups may be less than enthusiastic about the topic of application security. However, in my experience, many smart and successful CEOs and CTOs are not so quick to dismiss the topic. Startups that do not pay enough attention to security in the early stages may fail to later capitalize on the value of what they are building now. Furthermore, successful startup executives recognize the value of security as a market differentiator.
Unfortunately, it is not enough for startups to recognize that they need to care about application security; they need to take action. The challenge is cutting through the apparent complexity and building-in application security from the very beginning, while minimizing costs.
In many cases, the first step is for the startup to increase its staff’s awareness and knowledge of security issues.
Companies should review their application-security awareness and security design. Even just knowing that an issue exists or is important can help a startup manage the associated risk. security awareness can be the most cost-effective security measure. Many code flaws happen because developers lack knowledge about proper secure coding and the reasons and consequences of writing a certain line of code in a certain way.
Startups can no longer afford to ignore application security. It is not a question of whether or not startups should care about application security; they need to do more than care – they need to take action. However, taking effective steps toward secure software does not have to come with a hefty drain on the startup’s budget or productivity levels. On the contrary, some startups are using software security as a marketing differentiator in an age when clients are looking for more privacy and demanding evidence of privacy controls implemented by the organization.
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