Report: Majority of software programs lack acceptable security

More than half of all software programs are of an unacceptable security quality, according to a study by the secure software services provider Veracode. The company analyzed 4,835 applications submitted over 18 months and found that most of them fail the security test, reports George V. Hulme at CSO magazine. Security software itself was found to be unacceptable 72 percent of the time.

The good news is that it does not take too long to fix the security defects. Eighty percent of the applications with defects were remedied to an acceptable level within a month. 

The financial and software sectors are the most active in seeking verification of their applications' security, Veracode reported. The aerospace and defense sectors are becoming more active in trying to ensure quality software as well. "They are starting to bring a similar level of diligence to software quality as they do with their physical supply chain," said Sam King, Veracode's vice president of product marketing.

For more:
- see George V. Hulme's article at CSO

Related Articles:
Thinking about security from the beginning
Experts ponder software security conundrum