Op-Ed: How to ensure the best user experience while keeping applications secure

In the rush to digital transformation, the need for responsive, intuitive and effective applications to keep customers happy has never been greater. However, the need for applications to keep pace with evolving user demands runs parallel to the rise in malicious security threats.

The past year and a half, has seen many businesses bring forward their digital transformation plans and complete technology projects in record time. But rapid digital transformation comes at a price. The 2020 State of SecOps and Automation Report found that increasing alert volumes are creating problems for IT security teams, with 93 per cent unable to address all alerts the same day. It’s no surprise then that many IT teams are experiencing crippling complexity across their IT infrastructure caused by urgent innovation and technology sprawl across on-premise and cloud architectures.

Further, BDO and AusCERT recently found that the majority of businesses are still failing to interpret their threat landscape accurately, with many not knowing who is targeting them or what assets they seek to compromise. The ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams report also found Australians lost a record $851 million to scams in 2020 as scammers took advantage of the pandemic to con unsuspecting people. As people spend more time online during the COVID-19 pandemic, safety at every stage needs to be a priority.

For the end-user, there is an underlying understanding that the applications they are using are safe — that they’ve been through the right checks and balances. So when the security of an application comes into question, it makes that optimal user experience more challenging. Businesses need to think differently and use digital and connective technology to innovate to survive. That’s why securing applications and delivering a flawless user experience are both necessary to keep users happy and businesses competitive.

When you look at the teams responsible for delivering top-notch user experiences, they’re under tremendous pressure to balance user experience and security. After almost a year of unremitting fire-fighting to guide businesses through the initial shock of COVID-19, IT teams now need to raise their performance to even greater heights to propel their organisations through and beyond the pandemic.

Establishing a DevSecOps model is the best start to ensuring application code is scanned prior to release, but that can quickly become out of date and create vulnerabilities while the application is still in production. Looking ahead, for DevSecOps to become increasingly more important, teams need to have the right balance of collaboration and execution. The rush to the cloud can also increase the amount of vulnerabilities if proper precautions and monitoring are not taken.

Below are four ways IT teams can manage soaring IT complexity but innovate for a flawless user experience while keeping applications secure:

1. Alignment among all stakeholders: This is a critical first step, especially when you want and need to move fast, as silos in IT are a common issue working with cross functional teams. In cases where a DevSecOps model is not established, security may be an afterthought causing delays and tension within teams. Meanwhile, business leaders are left in the dark when they need a seat at the table.
2. Develop a security practice: Specifically, develop a security practice that enables the security team to be part of the development and release cycles such as DevSecOps. That’s because security needs to be an enabler not a roadblock.
3. Adopt the mindset of the Site Reliability Engineer: It’s time to forget about blame. It’s more important to stay current on the latest developments. We are in a world where we need to take risks and accept that problems will arise. Ensuring a fast and efficient way to identify a problem and rectify an issue quickly will not only help the business but will also remind your customers that you have their best interest at heart.
4. Secure the modern application: This is critical because security needs to be embedded inside the application, not just around it. This is why security should be agnostic to where the application runs, because applications run everywhere. Additionally, it has to be continuous and automated since applications are super dynamic and change so often. To optimise applications, it’s important to stay competitive, innovate and adopt cloud technology. Applications are key to user and customer experience, which make it key to business.

IT teams are under no illusions about the urgent need to link technology performance with business outcomes. Last year was a career-defining moment for these teams to step up to deliver the transformation their organisations needed to compete and thrive. Living in our digital first world means IT teams have the shared experience of end-users and can understand the frustrations and expectations that come with digital services and applications. As consumers, we expect our digital services to be there when we need them and we expect the highest levels of security to be built into those experiences — and customers expect the same.

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Antoine Le Tard is the regional vice president, AppDynamics Australia and New Zealand.