Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC)

Introduction to application security

The evolving landscape of cyber threats has dramatically shifted the paradigm of software design, where security was once an afterthought. In today’s “everything as code” era, the imperative for mature application security has never been more critical. With cyber threats evolving rapidly, the attack surface has expanded to applications and APIs. In fact, by looking at industry data from IT Governance, CrowdStrike found that eight out of the top 10 data breaches in 2023 were related to application attack surfaces. In response to this trend, specialized security approaches such as application security orchestration and correlation (ASOC) have emerged as helpful tools in advancing application security.

What is ASOC?

ASOC tools emerged to meet the complexities of security data management, offering comprehensive visibility into application risk exposure across the development-to-production life cycle. These solutions integrate application scan data from various sources such as SAST, DAST, IAST, and SCA tools to establish a single source of truth for identifying application weaknesses and security risks. By correlating data from multiple sources and analyzing patterns, ASOC tools enable security teams to de-duplicate and prioritize application security findings. Additionally, ASOC tools enable development teams to automate key workflows and streamline security processes, increasing speed and efficiency for vulnerability testing and remediation efforts.

The role of ASOC in application security

ASOC helps organizations consolidate and streamline application security alerts across tools. As a central platform integrating data from across security testing tools, an ASOC solution also improves collaboration between development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) teams.

Example of ASOC

Imagine a scenario where a malicious actor attempts to exploit a new vulnerability in a banking application to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data. Unfortunately, this isn’t hard to imagine, as it’s common for new application vulnerabilities to emerge. But addressing this risk can be a daunting task, with 60% of DevSecOps teams citing prioritizing and triaging vulnerabilities as their top application security challenge.

ASOC simplifies application code vulnerability management by enabling fast and efficient resolution of vulnerabilities (like the one in the banking application). By aggregating and correlating data from various security tools, the bank can identify critical vulnerabilities and their potential impact in a streamlined manner.

How ASOC is related to ASPM

ASOC was the first approach to providing a holistic look into application vulnerabilities by integrating app scan data from multiple tools. ASPM tools take the concept of ASOC a step further, bridging the gaps left by ASOC. ASPM not only aggregates signals from many tools but provides firsthand insight into application architecture, providing comprehensive visibility into all application services, dependencies, and data flows. This holistic view enables organizations to gain a thorough understanding of their application security posture, including application code vulnerabilities, application misconfigurations, data security and compliance issues, architectural weaknesses, and other security risks.

Benefits of ASOC

Automation

One of the key advantages of ASOC is its ability to streamline security processes through automated vulnerability management and workflows. This significantly lightens the workload for security teams and expedites incident response. By harnessing ASOC’s orchestration and automation capabilities, organizations can promptly identify and address security threats, ensuring robust protection against potential breaches.

Resource allocation

ASOC offers a significant benefit in resource allocation by alleviating the manual burden of triaging vulnerabilities from individual tools and prioritizing findings. By automating workflows and remediation processes without disrupting existing practices, ASOC helps optimize DevSecOps team resources. This efficiency allows teams to redirect their focus toward enhancing applications and implementing features that improve the customer experience and drive revenue growth.

Vulnerability management

By centralizing vulnerability findings and alerts, ASOC tools provide a comprehensive view of the organization’s security posture, making it easier and more efficient to prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities. This proactive approach to vulnerability management helps development teams to stay ahead of emerging vulnerability exploits and strengthens their overall application security posture.

Understanding risk

By centralizing application security alerts in a single dashboard, ASOC enables DevSecOps leaders to understand their risk profile and identify high-risk issues without logging in to multiple application security tools. This heightened awareness enables informed decision-making, allowing for strategic prioritization.

Navigating compliance

For organizations navigating regulatory landscapes, ASOC is a vital ally in showcasing compliance. By offering a unified perspective on security measures and furnishing evidence of diligent vulnerability management, ASOC empowers businesses to meet regulatory standards with confidence.

As organizations strive to adapt to the evolving threat landscape, investing in an ASOC solution is imperative to safeguard applications and stay ahead of adversaries. By integrating data sources from various application testing tools, ASOC empowers organizations to proactively detect and prioritize security incidents within their application landscape. From enhancing visibility and understanding of risk to streamlining resource allocation and centralizing vulnerability management, ASOC offers a comprehensive solution to fortify application security at scale.