Scale Your Mobile App Security Testing with AppSweep Enterprise

Takeaways

• AppSweep, Guardsquare's developer-friendly, mobile app security testing product, quickly identifies vulnerabilities in your mobile apps and dependencies at no cost. The included proactive recommendations help you fix issues early in development, saving time and reducing the high costs associated with penetration testing later in the development process.
• AppSweep Enterprise scales to address engineering challenges and security concerns. It provides features like role-based permissions, allowing you to assign specific testing access based on user roles. Additionally, the integrated Command-Line Interface (CLI) lets developers seamlessly integrate AppSweep into their existing workflow.
• AppSweep simplifies compliance with its enterprise security features. Enforce Single Sign-On (SSO) for user authentication and customize data retention policies to meet your organization's security standards and regulations.

Introduction

The mobile app landscape is booming. In 2023, users spent an incredible amount of time on their apps, averaging more than 5 hours daily. App stores are reaping the benefits as well, generating more than $325,000 USD per minute in revenue from paid downloads. This surge in usage, however, comes with new risks: companies rush to keep pace, more vulnerable mobile apps are released and attackers exploit new increasing opportunities.

While 91% of organizations believe their apps are secure, a worrying 88% have experienced a security incident in the past year (source: Vanson Bourne research). Unsecured apps expose businesses to a range of risks, from industry-specific issues like compliance fines and IP theft, to widespread brand damage and financial loss if a breach occurs.

This is where mobile app security testing (MAST) comes in. By integrating testing throughout the development process, development teams can identify and fix vulnerabilities early, saving time, money, and – most importantly – protecting their organization’s reputation.

In 2021, Guardsquare launched AppSweep, a free mobile app security testing tool designed specifically for developers. Initially focused on Android, AppSweep has continuously evolved thanks to valuable user feedback. We've expanded support to iOS developers, incorporated interactive analysis techniques, and aligned with industry standards like OWASP MASVS.

While AppSweep empowers individual developers, engineering and security leaders have expressed a need for the ability to manage security testing as their teams grow and collaborate cross-functionally to create, release and maintain mobile apps. That's why we're thrilled to announce the launch of AppSweep Enterprise, designed for development teams that want to scale mobile app security testing within their organization with streamlined access control, seamless integration with existing tools and the ability to comply with existing corporate security policies.

Mobile app security testing that scales when you need it

During the development of AppSweep Enterprise, we collaborated closely with engineering and security leaders to understand the specific needs of corporate organizations.

Engineering managers shared the following key pain points: they manage teams with developers working on various aspects of the same mobile app project. These developers have different roles and varying levels of involvement in mobile app security, leading to inconsistent visibility into security issues. Additionally, their development process utilizes a diverse set of tools that need to integrate seamlessly for a smooth workflow, adhering to current DevOps principles.

Security leaders, on the other hand, highlighted several concerns regarding compliance with internal security and data management processes. Managing security testing across multiple projects and teams can become cumbersome. Security teams need a central platform to manage user permissions, access controls, and security testing workflows for optimal efficiency. Ensuring that sensitive data used during testing remains protected is also critical.

Leveraging these insights, we've incorporated powerful new capabilities into AppSweep, specifically designed to help teams scale their mobile app security testing. These features are bundled within AppSweep Enterprise, enabling collaborative security testing as your organization grows.

Managing a development team working across multiple mobile app projects can be complex, especially when it comes to mobile app security. AppSweep Enterprise tackles this challenge to:

• Manage team access: Assign permissions based on identified roles with specific access privileges. Developers can focus on testing specific functionalities, while security leads retain full control over configurations and settings.
• Maintain security: Restrict access to sensitive data or functionalities for users with lesser privileges, ensuring a secure development environment.

AppSweep Enterprise understands the importance of a smooth development workflow. The extended Command-Line Interface (CLI) allows developers to seamlessly integrate AppSweep’s detailed findings with existing development tools and processes. Automation and integration boost productivity, freeing developers up to focus on coding activities and quickly fix security issues during the development.

Security remains paramount for organizations of all sizes. AppSweep Enterprise equips security and IT managers with the tools they need to enforce organizational security policies and ensure compliance with regulations. These features empower them to:

• Enforce single sign-on (SSO): Simplify user onboarding and offboarding by leveraging existing centralized login credentials. This reduces administrative overhead and strengthens access control with your company policies.
• Customize data retention: Set data retention policies to comply with industry regulations or internal data storage guidelines. This ensures sensitive data is not retained for longer than necessary, minimizing risk.

Remove barriers to broadly adopt MAST tools

Mobile app security is crucial and continuous testing should not be a barrier to development. Here's how AppSweep empowers you:

AppSweep presents security findings in a user-friendly interface. Developers can test an unlimited number of apps with unlimited users. This flexibility empowers individuals and small teams to prioritize mobile app security from the get-go. By integrating security testing earlier in the development process, vulnerabilities can be identified and addressed quickly and efficiently. Early detection of vulnerabilities translates to significant cost savings.

AppSweep's findings adhere to industry standards like OWASP MASVS (Mobile Application Security Verification Standard). This, on the one hand, aims to educate developers on the importance of mobile app security, on the other hand it facilitates clear and consistent communication between developers and security teams.

AppSweep offers free mobile app security testing, allowing developers an unlimited number of scans today at no cost.

As your need to scale mobile app security testing across your organization increases, AppSweep Enterprise offers advanced features to extend testing capabilities to ensure a secure mobile app is built and released.