Proactive Security Through Application Modernization 

The approach to security has changed over the years. Our relationship with technology has grown closer and cyber threats have evolved, becoming more frequent and severe. While we previously focused on a preventative approach to security, we’re now forced to take a more pragmatic, proactive approach.  

Today, as businesses continue their digital transformation, security should be top of mind at the very start of the process.  

Once businesses have started their journey to the cloud, application modernization is a significant part of the digital transformation process and it’s where many of the true benefits of cloud computing lie. As our approach to developing, building, and managing applications has changed, so should our approach to security.  

Part of the migration process is questioning how to continue your security posture, including your governance and compliance policies, in this new state. The application modernization process takes a more proactive approach to security with native, built-in security functions that are part of the development process from the very beginning.  

In this blog, we’ll break down everything you need to know about security throughout the application modernization process.  

The Security Benefits of Application Modernization  

Previously, monolithic applications were built on-premises. This involved manually building the code configurations and deploying the applications, which made them harder to manage and secure. Security was only factored in at the very last stage of development.  

Today, everything is broken into micro-service architecture with native, built-in security insights that are involved from the very beginning. Accelerated by automation and removing the human element, these applications are much easier to segment and secure.  

Security now takes a front seat in the application modernization process with six main goals:  

  1. Limiting exposure 

With the application modernization process, users can take advantage of a multi-account and multi-cloud infrastructure. Communication is more tightly controlled and native-built security controls log all changes, and alert and report on any events. Identities are purpose-built with least privileged access and policies can be put in place to enforce what an identity can access. 

  1. Containing threats  

Platform-level segmentation and micro-segmentation help contain threats. Should a cyber threat get into your network, it will be limited to only a small area, and unable to spread. With native detective controls, the application will react to any malicious detection automatically.  

  1. Detecting malicious activity 

With native activity logging and analysis through native services, like GuardDuty and Sentinel, organizations can collect, detect, and ship data and information to a location they designate. Rules and policies can be configured to address specific governance and compliance regulations.  

  1. Maximizing uptime  

Keeping your network secure means fewer interruptions overall and more time to focus on mission-critical initiatives. Organizations can also take advantage of scaling horizontally and vertically with ease, native load balancing, and strong IAM controls for backup and recovery of data.  

  1. Recovering from a disaster 

While the ideal objective would be to keep threats out, a more realistic approach is being prepared to recover from a successful cyber-attack. Through the application modernization process, businesses can eliminate a single point of failure, take advantage of platform-level controls, and rebuild via infrastructure as code.  

  1. Delivering an excellent experience  

The overall goal of application modernization is to deliver an excellent experience to users, customers, or both. With natively built security, organizations can achieve their goals without sacrificing security. This process alleviates management overhead, automates build processes, and provides the opportunity for rapid deployment, all with security baked in from the very beginning.  

Next Steps: Getting Started with Application Modernization 

Once you’ve started the journey to the cloud, you can begin planning the application modernization process.  

As always, preparation is key to ensure your project is successful: 

  1. Perform a readiness assessment: Where are you starting and where do you want to go? This stage should build a roadmap of your strategic path forward. 
  1. Establish greenfield v. brownfield: Are you building from scratch? Or re-platforming? This will have a large impact on your process.  
  1. Define your goals: Establish your success criteria with set objectives and build requirements. 
  1. Define your policies and baselines: Every business must establish its own policies, depending on the rules and regulations specific to its size and industry.  

It’s important to remember that these changes don’t have to happen overnight. This is an incremental process. It’s not just a technological change, but a cultural change overall as employees will be working more collaboratively, rather than in silos.  

To learn more, check out our previous blog: Breaking Down the Application Modernization Process.  

The application modernization process provides native, built-in security that will ensure you have the proper safety precautions factored in from the beginning. Contact one of our Arraya experts today to learn more about this proactive security approach.  

Visit https://www.arrayasolutions.com//contact-us/ to connect with our team now. 

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