Before Buying a Product Application (Web or Mobile Application), What Are the Things That Need to Be Considered From a Security Perspective 

In this article, we will be exploring 5 things that need to be considered from a security perspective before you buy a product application.

1. Need to consider if the product developed by the company follows the security as best practices in the design and development plan

Many software product companies spend time only developing the product based on their client’s requirements. However, they don’t consider the security of the product. As a result, they might not comply with any security development standard.

It will lead an attacker to compromise that product easily as it brings many security vulnerabilities considering the lack of security standards in design and development. Therefore, if you want to buy a web/mobile application product which is more secure, you need to check whether the particular development company is following the security standard on the software design and development plan.

2. Need to consider if the product is used by any external environment such as a third-party developed plugin, API or any code from a third party

Due to the development cost and time benefit, most software development companies use third-party codes in their software product. However, it may lead to a severe security issue even if the company follows security as a best practice in design and development. This is because those third-party codes might not follow the security standard or security as best practices, or sometimes the third-party code might be outdated and is not maintained for the current standard. This will lead to the software product being compromised by an attacker using non-standard vulnerable third-party code or the vulnerability of an unmaintained third-party code.

Thus, if you want to buy a web/mobile application product that is more secure, you need to check:

• What are the third-party codes used in that product?
• If those third-party codes are following security standards in the development process?
• Are those third-party codes outdated or not?
• Are the third-party codes still maintained by third-party code developers or not?
• Are there any known vulnerabilities existing in those third-party codes?

3. Need to consider if the company has integrated a security review in the software development life cycle of that product

Even if the company follows security standards as best practices, some developers might not follow them due to their lack of experience in following the best security practices. Furthermore, even experienced developers might not follow security standards because of the delivery dateline, work overload or stress.

That being said, a developed project should be reviewed by a security professional who hasn’t developed that product before it goes to the delivery state. Thus, if you want to buy a web/mobile application product that is more secure, you need to ensure that the company has integrated the security review in the software development life cycle of that product.

4. Need to ensure that the company does the penetration test before the software is delivered to the production server

Even if the company follows security standards and security as best practices in the software development life cycle, if they do not conduct a security review in the software development life cycle of that product, some vulnerabilities or misconfiguration might exist in the application for which the attacker might use to compromise the whole product.

Thus, it is recommended that the penetration test should be done by a security professional who has a similar mindset to the actual attacker before releasing the product to customers/production server.

5. Need to check where the software is hosted

Suppose a company develops a more secure product, but that product is hosted on a less secure server or unmanaged server. In that case, an attacker might easily use this opportunity to compromise the entire product.

Thus, hosting a product on a secure server maintained by a security professional or a famous security vendor company is recommended.

Therefore, if you want to buy a web/mobile application product that is more secure, you need to check where the company hosts the product.

Conclusion

Considering that many businesses depend on web and mobile products, it’s essential to consider the following five things before buying a developed product or hiring a development company for your web and mobile products:

• Need to consider if the product developed by the company follows the security as best practices in the design and development plan.
• Need to consider if the product is used by any external environment such as a third-party developed plugin, API or any code from a third party.
• Need to consider if the company has integrated a security review in the software development life cycle of that product.
• Need to ensure that the company does the penetration test before the software is delivered to the production server.
• Need to check where the software is hosted.