Software Development Kits (SDKs) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) play crucial roles in the architecture of contemporary mobile applications. These tools grant developers access to a suite of pre-configured functionalities, including analytics, advertising capabilities, and integration with social media platforms. However, incorporating SDKs and APIs into mobile applications is not without its challenges, particularly in terms of security. Below is a summary of the prevalent security risks encountered when utilizing SDKs and third-party APIs in mobile application development.

Shadow accounts, often called unauthorized or ghost accounts, have emerged as a significant and escalating threat in the digital realm, posing substantial risks to businesses. Commonly, these accounts are illicitly created by exploiting weaknesses in Single Sign-On (SSO) integrations, orchestrating phishing attacks, or employing social engineering tactics, all without the knowledge or approval of the legitimate account owner. Once established, malicious actors can exploit these shadow accounts for various unethical objectives, including unauthorized access to systems and data and tracking user activity. Both external attackers and malicious insiders can create these accounts, underscoring the critical need for enhanced security measures and vigilance in organizations.

Many assume that our financial apps are safe from malware as long as our devices remain non-rooted. However, this belief couldn't be further from the truth. Malware poses a significant risk to both rooted and non-rooted devices, and the consequences can be dire, especially when it comes to our sensitive banking app data.

Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) has emerged as a potent defense against mobile application threats. However, is it realistic to consider RASP as a bulletproof shield that can ward off all risks? This perception, often leading to overconfidence, can result in significant risks.

The recent joint Cybersecurity Advisory from the NSA and CISA Red and Blue Teams highlights the critical necessity of misconfiguration management in cybersecurity. These misconfigurations, such as inadequate internal network monitoring, lack of network segmentation, and inadequate patch management, can result in undetected compromises and significant vulnerabilities. To defend against evolving cyber threats, organizations must prioritize proactive configuration practices, regular monitoring, and timely upgrading. In addition, software developers are strongly encouraged to implement secure-by-design principles to mitigate these risks. Effective misconfiguration management is not just a best practice in today's dynamic threat landscape; it is a fundamental requirement for robust cybersecurity.

Today's software is a hybrid of proprietary code and an abundance of open-source components. They are woven together with a variety of open-source components and no longer rely solely on custom programming. According to a recent Sonatype survey, over 📈85% of organizations use open-source software, and over 27 million developers have used over 37 million open-source components and packages.

With every year that goes by, vulnerability management—the decades-old task of locating, ranking, and fixing software vulnerabilities—faces more difficulties. With MITRE reporting 25,068 new vulnerabilities in 2022 alone—a 24.3% increase from 2021—practitioners find the task even more difficult as they struggle with the complexity of remediation in addition to the sheer volume of vulnerabilities. While the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) has long been an industry standard for vulnerability prioritization, it has many limitations, the most notable of which is the inability of its Base metric group to dynamically include post-disclosure updates, such as the introduction of new exploits. Here are some instances of how CVSS constraints can affect vulnerability prioritization:

While generic Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) serves a purpose, it has limitations, particularly in the dynamic landscape of rapidly evolving cyber threats. Many security teams rely heavily on generic CTI from various commercial providers in their quest to protect their organizations from cyberattacks. However, depending solely on such generic intelligence can expose organizations to emerging and sophisticated threats.

The financial sector stands as one of the pillars of the global economy, and its security is paramount. With the rapid digitization of services and the increasing reliance on online platforms, the importance of cybersecurity in the financial sector has never been more pronounced.

Welcome to the debut interview of our new blog series, "Guardians of the Cyber Realm: NST Cyber Frontline Innovators." This series takes you deep into the engine room of NST Cyber, where the ingenious minds driving our cybersecurity initiatives are hard at work. Through direct conversations with developers, managers, and all team members at NST Cyber, we're here to dissect their methodologies, dissect the challenges they confront, and dissect the groundbreaking solutions they engineer to navigate the rapidly evolving cybersecurity domain.

Today’s digital landscapes are rapidly evolving with cyber threats, making advanced defense mechanisms more essential than ever. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal tool for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in bolstering cybersecurity measures, offering capabilities far beyond traditional methods. Recent statistics from the U.S. underscore the escalating cyber threat landscape.

Organizations can streamline their vulnerability remediation efforts by pinpointing the vulnerabilities linked to their external attack surface that adversaries or APT groups are most likely to exploit, based on their TTPs. This enables them to concentrate on the vulnerabilities that present the greatest risk to their systems and data, instead of attempting to address all security observations simultaneously. Even with vulnerability prioritization, your external attack surface testing might reveal numerous high-severity vulnerabilities requiring urgent action. Let's explore this further through a real-world use case.