How Important Is App Security To Securing Investment

When launching a startup or new business, there are of course a lot of considerations. A lot of big decisions to be made, a lot of strategy planning to be done - and the right execution to put those plans in place and bring them to fruition. The thing is, these things need money and resources and continuous monitoring! In order to push ahead with grand plans it could be that you require external financial investment.

Investors will look at a lot of things within your plans before parting with their hard earned cash especially in tech businesses, as they are a higher risk investment with lots of things that could go wrong. They will no doubt want a solid business plan, financial projections, a disaster recovery plan, and perhaps to discuss an exit strategy once they have received what they would deem a good enough return on investment.

Here we will discuss one thing that could be critical to securing financial investment for a company that applies tech, app security, and measures that businesses can put in place to make sure it’s as fool proof as possible to secure the right investor for your business.

What is App Security?

App security is the security measures that an app will put in place to make sure that the data transmitted over the app is completely safe and secure. It isn’t only to protect the people that use it, but it’s to stop the code/data that is used to develop the app from being hijacked. Typically, this will be put in place before the app is deployed.

It may include hardware, software, or other procedures that are put in place by the development team to identify or predict any gaps in security, or any vulnerabilities. Security measures are also usually built into the software such as firewalls for protection.

Why is it Important?

App security is important in a general sense because more often than not they will be used over various connections and available on the cloud. This means they can be at risk of security breaches and threats. This is why there shouldn’t only be network level security, but it should be a consideration within the app.

How Can Apps be Protected?

There are lots of different security features that could be integrated as part of app development such as authentication which is where only authorised users can access it. There could also be authorisation where authentication isn’t enough. This means the user needs permission, which the app will validate. Even after this, the data should be encrypted to make sure it’s safe. Other measures can be put in place such as sending users notifications should there be an unusual login attempt. Once they receive this, they would then need to confirm it was them that tried to access the app before the user could gain access.

What About Application Security Testing?

As part of the development process there is usually application security testing put in place. They will do this to ensure if there are any updates or modifications to the app, this won’t uncover any vulnerabilities. Effectively this is continuous monitoring. There is also penetration testing, where the app developer takes on the role of a cyber criminal and tries to hack the app. They will look to explore any avenue possible to hack into it to ensure it’s as robust as possible. There should also be a security audit that the app is put through where it needs to meet specific criteria and pass this prior to deployment.

Why all this is Important to an Investor

If someone is investing in a business that has an app, then they will definitely take all of this on board - they need to make sure their investment is as secure as possible. If there are any chinks in the armour when it comes to app security and potentially any USP associated with the development of it, it means that both the app itself will be at risk, as will the information for the users.

Any business that is employing this kind of tech needs to fully expect to be questioned on their processes by the investor and to have appropriate answers. Bear in mind they also need to think of their personal brand too. An investor will usually have a multitude of business interests that they are a part of. The last thing they would want to do is damage their brand reputation with a security issue with one of the apps they are named on.

App security isn’t only an essential in relation to your product or service, it could also be a deciding factor when sourcing an investor and securing that much needed investment for your business to thrive. Make sure you have the right team in place to carry out this work for you, and if you don’t have the in-house skills, outsource to a company that does. If there is one thing that you don’t want to scrimp on - it’s the security of the app.