Application security has been a central talking point in the cybersecurity community over the past decade. With the rapid proliferation of application technology and on-demand application services, it is now more important than ever to protect applications from as many threat vectors as possible.
Runtime Application Self Protection (RASP) systems are at the forefront of this charge, enabling businesses to develop real-time protection that helps to monitor and respond to threats before they can cause any problems in an application.
In this article, we’ll examine what RASP is, how these systems work, and touch on the main benefits that businesses can expect when incorporating RASP into their application security strategies.
What is RASP?
RASP is one of several cybersecurity technologies that help to enhance the security of an application. However, while the majority of security tools sit on the perimeter of an application and stop threats from entering, RASP systems are actually located inside an application.
Sat within an application, RASP tools actively monitor the runtime status of the application, collecting data on absolutely everything from its resource consumption to which lines of code are executing and when. RASP creates a comprehensive overview of how an application functions, allowing it to then easily detect when something is occurring that shouldn’t be.
When a hacker launches an attack or malware attempts to execute inside of an application, RASP is able to pinpoint these anomalies in real-time. It can then either launch a defensive strategy, like blocking the code from executing or compartmentalizing the application, or simply alert your security team that they need to take action.
RASP technologies have come out of a heightened awareness of application vulnerabilities. By 2029, the application security market is expected to reach a total revenue of $13.57 billion, with RASP at the forefront of the defensive technologies employed to enhance AppSec.
When used in tandem with other security solutions, RASP represents a final additional layer of defense. The majority of security teams will employ a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to prevent malicious traffic from connecting to their application. While this reduces the risk of a hacker entering your system by an enormous measure, it doesn’t prevent absolutely every threat vector.
From time to time, things will slip through the gaps. That’s where RASP comes in, with its precise real-time detection and response putting in place a mechanism to catch anything that slips through the gaps.
Key Benefits of RASP
As a piece of cybersecurity infrastructure that’s working from the inside of an application, RASP has a number of advantages that other security tools don’t have access to. Its ability to understand the runtime context of an application gives it full visibility over each normal process in the application, helping to mount a rapid response when something abnormal occurs.
There are numerous benefits to incorporating RASP technologies into your application security:
- Context-Dependent Defense: By existing within an application for an extended period of time, RASP can build up a historical context of how it works. This context provides clear visibility into what could be considered a dangerous action for the application and what is normal. By understanding how an application works, RASP can provide a highly accurate response to cyber threats, with a low rate of false positives for detecting abnormalities.
- Automation: Unlike some other cybersecurity tools that require a human to operate them, RASPs work autonomously in the background of an application. Businesses don’t have to spend resources on assigning a cybersecurity agent to manage the software, as it does everything by itself. Not only does this allow RASPs to save businesses time when mounting a threat response, but they also contribute to cost-effective cybersecurity.
- Zero-Day Detection: One of the most prominent cybersecurity threats that businesses have to contend with is a sudden zero-day vulnerability, where hackers find a bug that developers don’t know about and use to exploit an application. As RASP monitors the runtime environment, it is able to notice abnormalities instantly, meaning that businesses can spring into action to mitigate the worst effects of a zero-day attack. RASP is one of the only technologies that provides this level of visibility, making it a prime candidate to defend against zero-day attacks.
While RASPs are an effective tool, businesses should understand that they are meant as a complementary technology. RASPs are able to work so effectively only because they have help from other security tools that lower the number of threat vectors that ever make it into an application.
The best security solution is one that has layers, and guards your applications at every turn.
Enhancing Application Security with RASP
While many cybersecurity tools have hit the market over the last few decades, few have been as impactful to application security as RASP has been. Runtime application self-protection is a vital technology that offers real-time insight into how applications are running, allowing us to pinpoint anomalies and respond to potential threat vectors.
By implementing RASP into your applications, you’re able to create a highly secure application from the inside out. Especially when combined with other security features like WAF, you’ll be able to craft layers of defensive technologies that actively work together to keep your applications safe from harm.
Don’t just rely on external technologies, begin using RASP to give yourself a comprehensive level of coverage against common attack vectors.
