Organizations striving to stay ahead in the digital landscape often crown speed and agility as the most important aspects of application development; with security as a secondary or even tertiary priority. For many IT professionals, integrating speed, agility and security seems like an impossible task with the pressure to update applications as quickly as possible. However, speed and security are not mutually exclusive and prioritizing the former over the latter is akin to playing with fire.

The use of automation software, algorithms and technologies to perform tasks systematically streamlines processes while increasing productivity and accuracy – but it can be a double-edged sword. While automation is widely used, blindly automating security updates without human oversight can have disastrous consequences. To avoid such pitfalls, companies must balance the need for swift updates and the imperative of thorough testing, ensuring that careful review and validation are not sacrificed in the name of speed.

By acknowledging the limitations of automation and taking proactive steps to mitigate its risks, IT professionals can fortify their networks against future incidents, which can occur with alarming rapidity. One recent example – Crowdstrike’s experience with a flawed update that compromised its security software – impacted 8.5 million devices. This incident serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of an unbalanced approach and underscores key lessons for IT experts who think speed and vigilance can’t go hand in hand.

Optimize Operations Without Sacrificing Security

Prioritizing application-centric security should enhance operational speed rather than hinder it, and it starts with removing organizational silos and a better understanding of the purpose and context of changes. Security teams must comprehend the motivations behind any planned modifications so they can make informed decisions and formulate effective defense and response strategies. When automation is balanced with reactive risk management, well-informed teams can stay ahead of and react more efficiently to emerging threats.

It’s also essential that teams fully understand the value and capabilities of the tools at their disposal to optimize their effectiveness. An organization’s success depends on its teams’ ability to skillfully utilize solutions for maximum impact, a firm understanding of the operational implications of new security policies and effective compliance management. Organizations can categorize data by business function to better identify and mitigate these risks, which is important given the rising demand for multi-cloud solutions. Nearly 90% of organizations now use multiple clouds for storage and workloads.

The cost and consequences of implementing quick fixes, workarounds or less-than-optimal solutions to meet immediate needs – known as technical debt – are often far-reaching and cannot be paid off or undone. Investing time and resources into more robust, scalable solutions is essential to prevent setbacks, especially as technical debt can accumulate over time and make it hard to maintain, update or scale software systems. IT teams with a clear understanding of technical debt and its implications on security and risk management can help to ensure a secure and efficient operational framework.

A Full Understanding of Application Connectivity is Critical

Business applications are the backbone of every business. Understanding application connectivity across the entire network environment is crucial not only for ensuring application uptime but also for identifying potential security risks. In complex IT environments, application-centric security is no longer a buzzword, but a necessity to prevent threat actors from accessing systems, applications and data. However, managing risk from the business application perspective in a hybrid network environment can be complicated and is often disjointed.

When streamlined and carried out effectively, application-centric security management provides extensive visibility into application connectivity and data flows. IT teams are then better able to identify misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, risks and prioritize remediation based on criticality and business impact. Adding AI-powered analysis enables personalized risk assessments tailored to industry best practices, compliance regulations and company security policies.

Prioritize Application Security with Network Clarity for Overall Improvement

Many companies struggle with application security, leading to delayed incident response times and increased risk. Application-centric security management technology can be used to automatically discover and map application connectivity requirements to the underlying network infrastructure, and then translate vague requests for connectivity changes into networking terms that security teams can understand, approve and implement quickly. In the case of Crowdstrike, having this process in place would’ve expedited recovery times for the company and all businesses affected by the outage.

This approach also can significantly reduce burnout for IT team members by streamlining their workflow and minimizing stress. Considering the cybersecurity industry is facing a global shortage of talent that is projected to reach 85 million empty positions by 2030, supporting a healthy work-life balance for IT experts is critical. With a stronger understanding of their environment and the interconnected nature of applications, team members can manage their workloads more effectively, automate routine tasks and transition from reactive to proactive problem-solvers.

Organizations that prioritize application-centric security can break down silos, support network clarity and deliver speed and protection in harmony. This strategic approach bridges the gap between security and agility, allowing businesses to streamline application delivery without the risk of costly consequences. By unlocking application-centric security, IT professionals can proactively defend their organization’s operations, reputation and user base.