What is application security posture management (ASPM)?

It helps security and development teams continuously monitor, assess and improve the security stance of custom enterprise applications to prevent data breaches, protect sensitive information and maintain compliance with regulatory standards.

ASPM tools function as part of a comprehensive cybersecurity plan. They enable businesses to implement dynamic security controls that help maintain a strong application security posture and identify and mitigate business risks more effectively.

ASPM solutions are essential for addressing application security in modern computing environments.

In the past, businesses relied on application security testing (AST) to maintain the security of application ecosystems. AST solutions alone could protect monolithic applications with proprietary code and longer release cycles. However, software development has evolved significantly since then.

Many modern applications use open source dependencies, application programming interfaces (APIs), microservices, containers and infrastructure as code (IaC). These tools often operate in silos, that is, independently from one another, which can make it difficult for teams to coordinate scans, rationalize findings and address security issues efficiently. Businesses are also increasingly turning to agile and DevOps development practices, which have accelerated release cycles from monthly to weekly, daily or even multiple times daily.

Furthermore, applications often expose API endpoints to users. Along with the array of other components in an app stack, exposed endpoints expand the attack surface for malicious actors.

All factors considered, AppSec has become a complex undertaking in the modern age.

ASPM solutions seek to address the security needs of modern applications and application development and bridge the gap between disparate testing and development tools operating in the same environment. Without ASPM, the sheer diversity of components in an enterprise-level app ecosystem could introduce friction and security vulnerabilities.

ASPM offers businesses a systematic, holistic approach to network application security that seamlessly integrates with development and operational processes and provides IT teams with a unified view of the full application stack.

ASPM strategies are typically automated by advanced AppSec platforms. For complete visibility and security coverage, however, ASPM tools must provide AST and pipeline security (or software supply chain security) features and integration capabilities that enable integrations with other development and security tools.

ASPM platforms can offer enterprises:

ASPM solutions deliver extensive visibility across the entire application stack, covering infrastructure, code, configurations, permissions, dependencies and vulnerabilities in on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Comprehensive observability helps development teams eliminate security blind spots and proactively identify and mitigate potential application risks.

ASPM platforms gather findings from various security scans across the network to identify software vulnerabilities, at-risk dependencies and misconfigurations. Some scanning providers offer ASPM features that enhance an enterprise’s native scanning tools. However, many ASPM solutions can work with any scanning tool and unify results from multiple sources, regardless of vendor changes or new technologies.

ASPM tools use continuous real-time monitoring to identify security issues as they emerge. This helps organizations stay informed about their AppSec posture and enables dynamic risk management.

ASPM tools can then aggregate and evaluate security threats to correlate findings; assess their potential impact on the organization's security posture; and triage them based on severity, exploitability and business impact (a process called risk-based scoring).

ASPM uses intelligent automation to identify threats based on patterns, behaviors and established security rules. It also provides automated suggestions and initiates remediation workflows to quickly resolve issues, minimizing mean time to repair (MTTR).

If, for instance, a security test returns a negative result, a high-quality ASPM tool will automatically generate a repair ticket; and if the issue affects mission-critical apps or services, the system will automatically escalate it for priority repair.

ASPM tools use continuous monitoring features to help businesses maintain compliance with industry regulations and security frameworks without the burden of manual audits. They offer detailed reporting and audit trails that enable security and compliance teams to track adherence to security frameworks and industry-specific standards (HIPAA, for example).

Instead of inundating teams with excessive security alerts, ASPM solutions correlate data across the app stack to provide contextualized threat intelligence and improve response prioritization strategies. Context-driven insights give security teams a clearer understanding of each vulnerability (whether it affects a high-value asset, for instance) so they can make informed decisions faster.

ASPM can be integrated with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to help businesses keep pace with fast-paced development cycles. ASPM tools use a “shift left” approach, running security checks early in the software development process when they’re generally easier and cheaper to fix.

Shift left strategies enable businesses to address threats before they reach production and incorporate security considerations into the development workflow.

ASPM enables organizations to evaluate their tool adoption, coverage and overlap within the software development ecosystem. This evaluation helps identify gaps and eliminate redundancies.

Tool rationalization also helps businesses track both the computing and financial resources each tool requires. With this information, organizations can more easily manage IT budgets and decide which tools to keep, retire or replace.  

Advanced security automation tools and strategies help enterprises better fortify today’s complex, expansive IT architectures. And artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed every one of them, including ASPM.

AI and machine learning (ML) technologies have the power to significantly enhance ASPM’s security capabilities. AI-based features in ASPM tools automatically perform security data analyses to identify trends and anomalies, so teams can better anticipate and address security issues before they create larger problems.

AI-driven ASPM solutions can also improve the remediation process. Using large language models (LLMs) trained on proprietary data, security risks and remediation tasks, ASPM tools can generate actionable insights--prioritized by criticality—so security personnel can address vulnerabilities more efficiently.

AST is an umbrella term for a group of traditional application security solutions that scan software applications for security risk.

Static application security testing (SAST) takes a “white box” (internally focused) approach, scanning source code repositories for known vulnerabilities without running the program. Dynamic application security testing (DAST) uses a “black box” (externally focused) approach, testing applications in their runtime environment from the outside and using simulated attacks to mimic malicious actors.

Interactive application security testing (IAST), which combines elements of SAST and DAST, analyzes applications at runtime within the app server (so it can access the source code) to give developers a more comprehensive view of security issues. And software composition analysis (SCA) focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in third-party components and libraries within an application.

AST practices are invaluable to app security—they enable businesses to identify specific security issues in an application. However, AST methodologies are often used independently, typically for point-in-time assessments at specific stages in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). AST scans will, therefore, only provide an understanding of a specific problem with a specific application at a specific moment in time.

ASPM incorporates AST techniques, but it offers a broader, more holistic approach. ASPM provides insights into an enterprise’s overall security posture and offers strategic guidance for improving application security over time. ASPM services also seek to integrate security strategies across the entire application lifecycle and across various tools and platforms.

ASOC, often seen as the precursor to ASPM, integrates and automates various security policies, tools and workflows to streamline application security operations. It focuses primarily on correlating security data from multiple sources to enhance threat detection and remediation before vulnerabilities enter the production pipeline.

ASOC tools provide businesses with a single-pane-of-glass orchestration platform that can integrate with and aggregate security alerts from different security tools.

Whereas ASOC services give teams the ability to implement cross-platform, pre-production data aggregation and correlation workflows, ASPM enables them to conduct real-time, continuous monitoring and risk detection and automate remediation workflows across the development pipeline. As such, ASPMs represent a broader, holistic approach to application security.

ASPM tools often use ASOC features—alongside DevSecOps and observability practices—to aggregate application data and automate app-specific security practices in the initial design phases and through integration, testing, delivery and deployment.

Both ASPM and CSPM are essential to robust cybersecurity strategies, especially for organizations looking to strengthen their application security posture. Whereas APSM prioritizes the security of software applications across environments, CSPM is environment-specific, focusing on the security of cloud infrastructure.

CPSM is a cybersecurity technology that unifies risk identification and remediation across multicloud and hybrid cloud environments and services, including infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) models. It works by:

• Natively discovering and cataloging an organization's cloud assets

• Continuously monitoring them against established security and compliance frameworks

• Helping teams quickly find and fix security threats

CSPM tools provide advanced security for all types of cloud environments, but they don’t typically scan the application layer of network (or any on-premises infrastructure).

ASPM tools aggregate security data from different security scanning devices in an application stack to give developers full-stack observability and help teams implement end-to-end security posture automation. However, unlike CSPM tools, ASPM tools don’t do any scanning themselves; they just run aggregation workflows for existing app security scanners.

Furthermore, ASPM tools are typically integrated into the software development lifecycle, while CSPM solutions are used with cloud management and operational tools.

In modern software development, apps and infrastructure components are often intertwined. Without both the app layer security aggregation capabilities of APSM and the cloud infrastructure scanning features of CPSM, teams might have to deal with shifting data silos that create gaps in network security coverage.

CNAPPs combine cloud security posture management (CSPM), cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs) and infrastructure as code (IaC) scanning and other features to deliver runtime protection and vulnerability scanning for containers. They can also enforce Kubernetes and network policies, as well as secure and integrate with cloud deployment and orchestration tools.

With CNAPPs, businesses get runtime observability and security for cloud-native applications in production. ASPM tools similarly provide fine-grained visibility, but they focus on securing the application layer of an infrastructure, including any container and IaC configurations.

ASPM can also integrate app security functions with CNAPP's cloud security coverage to extend visibility features to on-premises infrastructure.

Choosing the right ASPM solution can offer enterprises:

• Up-to-date inventory. ASPM tools can automatically catalog applications and their dependencies (including libraries, configuration files, microservices, APIs, databases, third-party services and environmental variables) to establish baselines and indexes. Dynamic inventory management capabilities help teams better understand the architecture’s security posture and perform more accurate risk analyses.  

• Faster incident response. ASPM streamlines incident response and remediation with automated workflows (ticket creation and escalation), minimizing network disruptions and reducing MTTR.

• Application resilience. By using automated security processes and real-time, continuous monitoring, ASPM helps safeguard optimal application function in the face of emerging threats. ASPM also enables organizations to develop high-quality applications capable of withstanding evolving security threats, reducing the risk of future breaches and system failures.

• Better drift awareness. Drift refers to unexpected security risks that arise when there are modifications to an application’s code or configuration. ASPM tools manage drift by using established baselines to measure deviations and by implementing version control for application architecture. They detect any unauthorized or unexpected changes so that problematic deviations are addressed promptly and apps remain secure over time.

• Data-driven visibility. ASPM consolidates security findings from all AppSec programs and tools into a single dashboard, providing teams with real-time data on vulnerabilities in code, software components, APIs and security processes. Enhanced, code-to-cloud visibility empowers teams to resolve security threats before they escalate or affect the user experience.

• Enhanced security and operations. ASPM shifts application security to the forefront of DevOps strategy. A strong ASPM practice puts a focus on secure code for higher-quality apps. Stronger security accelerates detection, thwarts more attacks and yields more time for innovation.

• Seamless collaboration between security and development teams. ASPM bakes security scans and threat mitigation into the development workflow. This allows developers to get timely feedback from security teams and accelerates secure software releases.

• Streamlined scalability. Since ASPM platforms automate security checks and threat resolution processes for applications in the CI/CD pipeline, organizations can more easily expand their security posture as the network grows.

• Better API security. ASPM enhances API security by providing a complete inventory of internal, external and third-party APIs, including both known and unknown endpoints. Continuous API discovery makes sure that the inventory is updated automatically as new APIs are added or existing APIs change. This helps keep security teams informed with the latest data.