Application Security: Is Your Business at Risk in the Hybrid World?

Dr Magda CHELLY, CISSP, PhD
Magda On Cyber
Published in
2 min readMar 30, 2023

Cisco Report reveals alarming findings on global application security readiness, exposing vulnerabilities in business-critical applications.

Application Security

As businesses continue to embrace digital transformation in a post-COVID world, the security of applications has become a paramount concern. The rapid growth of cloud-native applications and the shift to distributed systems have exposed organizations to an ever-expanding attack surface. A recent report by Cisco highlights that a majority of organizations are unprepared to handle these threats, with an urgent need for better application security measures.

Key Findings:

  1. Explosive growth in cloud-native applications: According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), an astounding 750 million cloud-native applications are projected to be created globally by 2025. This rapid growth brings with it new risks and vulnerabilities.
  2. Unsettling vulnerabilities: Cisco AppDynamics’ research indicates that 78% of IT professionals believe their organization is vulnerable to a multi-staged security attack affecting the full application stack within the next 12 months.
  3. Lack of readiness: The Cisco report shows that 65% of respondents fall into the Formative or Beginner category of readiness, which means their organizations are either low or below-average performers in protecting their application infrastructure.
  4. Budget constraints: Many delayed deployments of application protection solutions are held back by budgets, with only 39% of organizations having agreed or allocated the necessary funds.
  5. Geographic disparities: Japan, Hong Kong, and France lag in readiness to protect against attacks on application workloads, with a high percentage of organizations falling into the low or below-average categories.

The Cisco report underscores the need for organizations to speed up their application security efforts and prioritize coordination between siloed security and application teams. Bad actors can exploit gaps and delays in these areas, leading to costly and damaging consequences.

To gain a better understanding of your organization’s readiness and learn more about improving application security, download the full Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index: Resilience in a Hybrid World report. Equip your business with the necessary knowledge and strategies to protect your critical applications and stay ahead of cyber threats.

[Download the Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index report here]

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Dr Magda CHELLY, CISSP, PhD
Magda On Cyber

Cyberfeminist | Entrepreneur | Former CISO | PhD, CISSP, S-CISO | CoFounder Responsible Cyber | @womenoncyber | Documentary The Dark Web on @myCanal