Cyber-Safety: Why Is It So Important in Custom Software?

How you address safety, privacy, and data concerns has a real effect on whether you attract leads and customers to your business or turn them away. Security should be a major and basic concern for any custom software development project. For this, there is no exception.

Here is an overview of why safety is a basic and core concern in custom software development:

• Addressing threats to users and their data.
• Three strategies that improve app security.
• Three benefits of adding security features.
• Three reasons you should invest in safety.

There is a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

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How Cyber Threats Affect More than Just Data

When cyberattacks happen, the threat actors’ target is not necessarily the data but could be the people behind it. Their money, identity, and other personal information that can put them at risk drive these attacks. In short, the data is just a means to an end and affects people.

Safety features and data protection measures are vital concerns in custom software development. An example of this is limiting data collection to the bare minimum and only to the extent needed to run the app itself. This helps to reduce the vulnerabilities of users and protect their data.

The concept of cyber-safety is important and will only continue to grow in the future. As the world becomes more connected, people become more tied to data in every transaction. Safety is therefore going to be a looming concern for almost everybody.

Three Common Strategies to Improve Cybersecurity

One of the key benefits of creating or using custom software is that you have few security risks about which to worry. Any issue that you find along the way is easy enough to solve and can be handed over to a developer to fix. Equally, each issue has a matching strategy to fix any vulnerabilities.

Here are three examples of ways to improve cybersecurity in custom software development:

1. Use two-factor authentication to prevent access by anyone other than the target user. This security code is often sent to a registered mobile number or email address. The user receives it only after entering their password or biometric login.
2. Set access controls so that you or the users can restrict access at will and prevent any data leaks, keep out other users, or limit their actions. In the context of apps, this is often in the form of administrator versus user privileges. It also lets users manage the app and its data.
3. Encryption is another way to boost the security and safety of custom software. With it, all data is kept secure and only accessible to those with proper access. When data is encrypted, it is scrambled with mathematical models and can only be put back with the correct keys.

Three Benefits of Investing in Cybersecurity Features

According to Secure Code Warrior’s The Challenges (and Opportunities) to Improve Software Security whitepaper, 66% of surveyed developers believe app security is a growing concern. Hence, a major benefit of cybersecurity is that your software remains viable and usable.

Here are three core benefits of putting security first in custom software development:

1. You must keep user data safe and stop any breach or theft before it gets a hold of your app. By using security features such as the ones above, your app’s data is kept safe behind a wall that is not easily accessed, even by a hacker.
2. Since security is a major issue, particularly the safety of personal data, the better you protect users, the more they will trust your brand. By investing in safety, you are also investing in the trust of your brand. Remember, trust is hard to earn and is often a major factor for buyers.
3. Cyberattacks work by finding and using weaknesses in an app or piece of software as an entry point. A security feature acts more or less as a seal to keep those points closed. This keeps any app that you make safe and harder to hack, which also keeps your trade secrets safe.

Three Reasons Custom Security Features Work

A data breach is a danger to users and your business. Even without the fact that it makes your brand look bad if its app is hit with a cyberattack, the threat of lawsuits is a reality. Therefore, it is good to know how security features work and why to implement them.

Here are three reasons why you always need cyber-safety in custom software development:

1. Configuring your app with security features, especially ones specific to your business, makes it hard to break through your defenses. While not always perfect, good security lets you identify attacks and locate your weak points. It alerts you to attacks too.
2. Even if you cannot stop an attack completely, cyber-safety elements allow you to slow it down. This is often enough to prepare a quick response, such as moving the data. It makes it harder for hackers to reach sensitive information that can seriously harm you and your customers.
3. It gives users peace of mind that they have protection against attacks, which boosts your app's user experience (UX). Good UX makes it easier for you to get more people on board to try, buy, and use your business’s proprietary custom software.

Summing Up

Without exception, online attacks threaten the safety of data, users, and businesses. Protection is critical to keeping sensitive information out of the hands of bad actors and hackers who wish to use data as leverage. Therefore, safety features should be a top priority in your strategy.

Your custom software development plan should sit on a foundation of robust security. Do not make it an afterthought, as some other companies do. Vulnerabilities expose you to various dangers that can render your business helpless, including slowly dismantling it from the inside out.

Need help creating secure and high-quality custom software? Contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP) to learn how we can help.