BURLINGTON, Mass. – November 12, 2012 - Veracode, Inc., the leader in cloud-based application security testing, today released the second feature supplement of its annual State of Software Security Report (SoSS), for the first time analyzing third party software security testing metrics. The data indicates that despite increasing security risks from third party and externally developed software, few enterprises currently have formal testing programs in place. However, there are signs that more organizations are beginning to recognize and address the security risks associated with externally developed applications.

“The widespread adoption of third-party apps and use of external developers in enterprises brings increased risk,” said Chris Eng, vice president of research, Veracode. “In fact, a typical enterprise has an average of 600 mission-critical applications, about 65% of which are developed externally, leaving companies increasingly vulnerable to the security risks found in these apps. We are beginning to see signs that enterprises are recognizing and addressing these risks. However, organizations still assume too much risk when trusting their third-party software suppliers to develop applications that meet industry and organizational standards. There is still much more work to be done to adequately secure the software supply chain.”

The supplement found that some of the most dangerous security flaws in existence, such as SQL injection and Cross Site Scripting, are among the most prevalent vulnerabilities in third-party vendor applications. The report also showed that while a programmatic approach to software security testing can greatly help enterprises and their vendors mitigate these flaws, few organizations have formal programs in place to manage and secure the software supply chain.

Key findings of the report include:

• Currently few enterprises have vendor application security testing programs in place, but the volume of assessments within organizations is growing
  • Less than one in five enterprises have requested a code-level security test from at least one vendor
  • However, the volume of vendor supplied software or application assessments continues to grow with a 49% increase from the first quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012
• There is a Gap Between Enterprise Standard and Industry Standard Compliance
  • 38% of vendor supplied applications complied with enterprise-defined policies vs. 10% with the OWASP Top Ten and 30% with CWE/SANS Top 25 industry-defined standards.
• Some of the most dangerous vulnerabilities in vendor applications are also the most prevalent
  • Four of the top five flaw categories for web applications are also among the OWASP Top 10 most dangerous flaws and five of the top six flaw categories for non-web applications appear on the CWE/SANS Top 25 list of most dangerous flaws.
  • SQL injection and cross-site scripting affect 40 percent and 71 percent of vendor-supplied web application versions, respectively.
  • Only 10 percent of applications tested complied with the OWASP Top Ten list and 30 percent with the CWE/SANS Top 25 industry standards
• With 62% of applications failing to reach compliance on first submission, procedures for managing non-compliant applications are an important aspect of an enterprise’s security policy
  • 11% of vendors resubmitted new versions of applications for testing but are still out of compliance with enterprise policies
• Structured Testing Programs Promote Higher Participation
  • Enterprises that relied on an ad-hoc approach when requesting application security testing averaged four participating vendors, whereas enterprises with a structured approach had much higher levels of success, averaging participation from 38 vendors.
  • Enterprises with structured programs enabled more vendors to achieve compliance quickly, with 45 percent of vendor applications becoming compliant within one week.
  • By contrast, enterprises with an ad hoc program only saw 28 percent of third-party applications achieve compliance within one week

“Today, every organization is an extended enterprise, with third-party software a fundamental layer in the software supply chain,” said Wendy Nather, research director, 451 Research. “It’s critical that organizations develop security policies when purchasing software from outside vendors because of the risks inherent in using third-party applications, yet few are actually demanding security compliance of their suppliers.”

Report Methodology

This Study of Enterprise Testing of the Software Supply Chain captures data collected from 939 application versions (across 564 distinct applications) submitted to the Veracode Platform during an 18 month time period from January 201 to June 2012. The data comes from actual security analysis of web and non-web applications across industry verticals, languages and platforms, and represents multiple security testing methodologies on a wide range of application types and programming languages.

The focus of this report is to assess the security of software purchased from vendors, as well as participating in vendor application security testing programs, and how different programs impact vendor compliance with application security policies.

Download the Report

Veracode’s report, Enterprise Testing the Software Supply Chain, examines additional software security topics in the context of application security trends, including details on the industries that most commonly employ assessment programs, more information on the factors involved in time to compliance, and additional facts about the types of security programs that enterprises implement. For complete report findings, download a copy of the report by visiting: https://info.veracode.com/vast-soss.html.

About Veracode

Veracode is the only independent provider of cloud-based application intelligence and security verification services. The Veracode platform provides the fastest, most comprehensive solution to improve the security of internally developed, purchased or outsourced software applications and third-party components. By combining patented static, dynamic and manual testing, extensive eLearning capabilities, and advanced application analytics, Veracode enables scalable, policy-driven application risk management programs that help identify and eradicate numerous vulnerabilities by leveraging best-in-class technologies from vulnerability scanning to penetration testing and static code analysis. Veracode delivers unbiased proof of application security to stakeholders across the software supply chain while supporting independent audit and compliance requirements for all applications no matter how they are deployed, via the web, mobile or in the cloud. Veracode works with customers in more than 80 countries worldwide representing Global 2000 brands. For more information, visit www.veracode.com, follow on Twitter: @Veracode or read the Veracode Blog.

Copyright ^© 2012 Veracode, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Media Contact for Veracode:

Ellen Moss
Weber Shandwick
(617) 520-7138
email: emoss@webershandwick.com