Understanding Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) and Selecting the Right Vendor – Ofofo | Knowledge Base

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What is Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC)?

Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) is a category of application security (AppSec) solution that helps streamline vulnerability testing and remediation through workflow automation. ASOC solutions collect data from various AppSec sources (such as SAST, DAST, and IAST tools), consolidate it into a single database, and then correlate any findings, prioritizing critical remediation efforts. ASOC integrates data from across your security testing tools into a centralized platform, facilitating robust collaboration between development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) teams. ASOC helps automate vulnerability management, risk assessment, and remediation, as well as orchestrating data from across different security solutions. ASOC can assist in several ways, such as combining integrated testing results from multiple sources into a single tool, correlating the findings, and prioritizing high-risk vulnerabilities. ASOC helps small and medium businesses manage their application security more effectively by reducing the complexity and manual effort involved in threat detection and response

Why is ASOC important for small and medium businesses?

Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) is important for small and medium businesses because it helps them manage their application security more effectively by reducing the complexity and manual effort involved in threat detection and response. ASOC offers several benefits, including :

Increased DevSecOps Efficiency

ASOC helps bridge the gap between vulnerability management and continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD) pipelines, allowing developers to orchestrate security within a CI/CD pipeline without hindering development velocity.

Improved visibility into potential threats

ASOC integrates data from across your security testing tools into a centralized platform, facilitating robust collaboration between development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) teams.

Integrated analytics and threat intelligence

ASOC provides integrated analytics and threat intelligence for your entire security stack, allowing you to improve efficiency when remediating issues.

Enhanced security posture assessment

ASOC tools can be combined with application security posture management tools to provide end-to-end visibility of security right from the testing phase through to a production environment.

Reduced vulnerability overload

ASOC helps alleviate the vulnerability overload that taxes security and development teams alike by offering continuous and automated scanning in existing pipelines.

Custom rules and automation

ASOC introduces custom rules deduced by company-specific risk aversion procedures, saving security engineers from manually reviewing the security health of each project before each release.

Measurable KPIs

ASOC helps display the mean time to fix of closed issues and window of exposure of open vulnerabilities, enabling comparisons between the security performance of projects, teams, and scanners.

Automated validation scans

ASOC enables automated validation scans triggered by the change in the status of the vulnerability, helping to ensure that the issue does not exist anymore.

Instant identification of committer

ASOC can instantly identify the committer of the code, allowing issues to be automatically opened on issue trackers or notifying developers on IDEs or internal communication tools.

Reduced mean time to fix

ASOC helps reduce the mean time to fix vulnerabilities, which is crucial for maintaining a strong security posture.

These benefits make ASOC an essential tool for small and medium businesses looking to improve their application security and stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.

Who should get ASOC?

Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) is a security solution that can benefit various organizations, including:

Organizations with complex software development lifecycles (SDLC) that use multiple security tools across different stages of development.

Organizations that need to streamline security operations, automate security processes, and improve the accuracy of threat detection and response.

Organizations that want to improve collaboration and communication between security and development teams.

Organizations that need to reduce the time and effort required for manual security tasks, enabling teams to focus on higher-level security work.

Organizations that want to improve their security posture and stay updated with regulatory requirements.

Organizations that need to prioritize security findings and automate responses or alerts to security findings.

Organizations that want to reduce security risks and improve overall operational efficiency.

By implementing ASOC, organizations can improve their security posture, streamline security operations, and reduce the risk of security incidents. ASOC is a key element of broader approaches like Application Security Posture Management (ASPM). To ensure a successful implementation, organizations should follow best practices such as defining clear objectives, identifying key security data sources, choosing the right tools and technologies, and training and educating security and development teams.

How does ASOC work?

Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) works by collecting and analyzing data from various application security (AppSec) sources, such as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), and Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) tools. ASOC solutions consolidate this data into a single database and then correlate any findings, prioritizing critical remediation efforts. This allows security teams to streamline their AppSec activities in an informed and efficient way. ASOC integrates data from across security testing tools into a centralized platform, facilitating robust collaboration between development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) teams. ASOC tools help automate vulnerability management, risk assessment, and remediation, as well as orchestrating data from across different security solutions. ASOC can assist in several ways, such as combining integrated testing results from multiple sources into a single tool, correlating the findings, and prioritizing high-risk vulnerabilities. ASOC also helps bridge the gap between vulnerability management and continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD) pipelines, allowing developers to orchestrate security within a CI/CD pipeline without hindering development velocity. ASOC solutions provide a single source from which to schedule automated scans across all the tools used in an organization, offering continuous and automated scanning in existing pipelines. The future state of AppSec will likely involve organizations moving toward adopting ASOC as their single source of truth and using it to manage their AppSec portfolio effectively and efficiently.

What are the benefits of ASOC for application security?

The benefits of Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) for application security are as follows:

Improved Visibility

ASOC provides a unified view of security events across different security tools, enabling better visibility into potential security threats. This allows security teams to quickly identify and prioritize security incidents and take appropriate action to mitigate them.

Enhanced Efficiency

By automating security processes, ASOC helps security teams to work more efficiently. It reduces manual tasks and improves response times, enabling teams to focus on more critical tasks and achieve better results.

Better Compliance

ASOC helps organizations to comply with regulations by providing better visibility into security events, enhancing risk assessment, and enabling faster response to security incidents.

Improved Collaboration

ASOC encourages collaboration among teams involved in security operations, including IT, operations, and development teams. This helps to break down silos and improve communication, resulting in better overall security outcomes.

Cost-Effective

Implementing an ASOC solution can be cost-effective in the long term. By automating security processes and improving efficiency, organizations can reduce the number of security incidents, resulting in cost savings.

Continuous and Automated Scanning

ASOC platforms offer continuous and automated scanning in DevOps pipelines, saving time for AppSec and DevSecOps teams and providing unparalleled visibility into the remediation status of vulnerabilities.

Well-Defined Security KPIs

ASOC helps organizations establish KPIs to measure their progress towards addressing security risks and vulnerabilities, ensuring that the ASOC is materially contributing to security and helping teams prioritize key risks.

Streamlined Vulnerability Management

ASOC tools help to automate vulnerability management, risk assessment, and remediation, as well as orchestrating data from across different security solutions, providing a consolidated and correlated view of vulnerabilities in a single platform.

Increased DevSecOps Efficiency

ASOC bridges the gap between vulnerability management and continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD) pipelines, allowing developers to orchestrate security within a CI/CD pipeline without hindering development velocity.

These benefits make ASOC an essential tool for organizations looking to improve their application security and stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.

How does ASOC integrate with other security tools and systems?

Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) integrates data from various application security (AppSec) sources, such as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), and Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) tools, into a single database. ASOC solutions consolidate this data and then correlate any findings, prioritizing critical remediation efforts. ASOC platforms offer continuous and automated scanning in DevOps pipelines, saving time for AppSec and DevSecOps teams and providing unparalleled visibility into the remediation status of vulnerabilities. ASOC tools help automate vulnerability management, risk assessment, and remediation, as well as orchestrating data from across different security solutions. ASOC integrates data from across security testing tools into a centralized platform, facilitating robust collaboration between development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) teams. ASOC bridges the gap between vulnerability management and continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD) pipelines, allowing developers to orchestrate security within a CI/CD pipeline without hindering development velocity. ASOC solutions provide a single source from which to schedule automated scans across all the tools used in an organization, offering continuous and automated scanning in existing pipelines. ASOC platforms come in handy to set workflows that have been mutually agreed upon by security and software development teams in advance, allowing both teams to be notified when something that does not comply with the agreed-upon processes occurs. ASOC tools also allow organizations to assess the security posture of their applications and ensure that they comply with industry-specific regulations and standards.

What are some common use cases for ASOC?

Common use cases for Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) include:

API Security Testing

ASOC helps organizations test APIs for security vulnerabilities and ensures that APIs are secure and compliant with industry standards.

AppSec Consolidation

ASOC consolidates data from various AppSec sources, such as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), and Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) tools, into a single database.

Application Security Posture Management (ASPM)

ASOC helps organizations establish KPIs to measure their progress towards addressing security risks and vulnerabilities, ensuring that the ASOC is materially contributing to security.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) Pipeline Integration

ASOC bridges the gap between vulnerability management and CI/CD pipelines, allowing developers to orchestrate security within a CI/CD pipeline without hindering development velocity.

Automated Vulnerability Management

ASOC automates vulnerability management, risk assessment, and remediation, as well as orchestrating data from across different security solutions.

Improved Collaboration

ASOC encourages collaboration among teams involved in security operations, including IT, operations, and development teams.

Cost-Effective Security

ASOC can be cost-effective in the long term, as it automates security processes and improves efficiency, reducing the number of security incidents.

Compliance with Industry and Regulatory Standards

ASOC helps organizations comply with regulations by providing better visibility into security events, enhancing risk assessment, and enabling faster response to security incidents.

Continuous and Automated Scanning

ASOC provides continuous and automated scanning in DevOps pipelines, saving time for AppSec and DevSecOps teams and providing unparalleled visibility into the remediation status of vulnerabilities.

Risk-Based Approach to Security

ASOC allows for a risk-based approach to security, creating risk-based scores based on context, enabling organizations to prioritize security incidents based on their severity.

These use cases demonstrate the importance of ASOC in enhancing cybersecurity, especially if it has evolved to meet modern cybersecurity needs.

What are some challenges that organizations may face when implementing ASOC?

Organizations may face several challenges when implementing Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC), including:

Addressing Root Problems

ASOC doesn't inherently address the root causes of security vulnerabilities; it merely reports and generates awareness of potential issues3. ASOC tools automate security processes to provide insights, but it’s not enough to actually eliminate any vulnerability in your code or environment at its source.

Data Correlation Complexity

ASOC often involves using multiple tools to accumulate data from various sources. While this diversity of data can provide comprehensive insights, correlating this data between tools can be a complex and time-consuming endeavor. Ensuring that the data from different tools aligns seamlessly within ASOC requires continuous configuration and ongoing maintenance, which can strain development resources.

Lack of Application Context

ASOC operates without a deep understanding of the application's context. This means that configuration and rule-setting are left primarily to development engineers3. Prior to ASOC, data analysis and correlation were often a manual process, and having to sift through potentially dozens of tools with thousands of data points can lead to errors and prevent dev teams from focusing on more important priorities.

Limited Production Visibility

ASOC tools do not offer production visibility or traceability, which is necessary for thorough application security testing. ASOC and integrated tools can scan source code in repositories, but that doesn’t always reflect the exact state of what is in complex environments with numerous repository branches, it can be challenging to ensure that security assessments align with the actual production environment, affecting overall visibility.

Weak Risk Scoring

ASOC struggles with providing useful risk scoring. The use of a wide variety of tools can result in an overwhelming number of security alerts, making it difficult to properly score which threats require immediate attention.

Integration Complexity

Integrating ASOC with existing security tools and systems can be a complex and time-consuming process. Organizations may need to invest in additional resources to ensure that ASOC is integrated correctly and that data is being correlated effectively.

Cost

Implementing an ASOC solution can be costly, especially for small and medium businesses with limited resources. Organizations may need to invest in additional hardware, software, and personnel to ensure that ASOC is implemented correctly and that data is being correlated effectively.

Resistance to Change

ASOC requires a significant shift in the way that organizations approach application security. Some teams may be resistant to change, making it difficult to implement ASOC effectively.

These challenges highlight the importance of careful planning and execution when implementing ASOC. Organizations should consider these challenges and work to address them to ensure that ASOC is implemented effectively and efficiently.

Is ASOC ideal as a service or a product?

ASOC can be offered as both a service and a product. Some organizations may prefer to use ASOC as a service, where a third-party provider manages the ASOC solution and provides support and maintenance. This can be beneficial for organizations that do not have the resources or expertise to manage an ASOC solution in-house. On the other hand, some organizations may prefer to purchase an ASOC product and manage it in-house. This can be beneficial for organizations that have the resources and expertise to manage an ASOC solution and want more control over the solution. Ultimately, the decision to use ASOC as a service or a product depends on the organization's specific needs and resources.

What are some key considerations when selecting an ASOC tool for an organization?

When selecting an Application Security Orchestration and Correlation (ASOC) tool for an organization, several key considerations should be taken into account. These considerations include:

Integration Capabilities

Robust ASOC tools integrate with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) engines, allowing for seamless integration with existing development and security tools1.

Automation and Orchestration

The ASOC tool should streamline workflows and improve collaboration with development teams, automating security processes, reducing the time and effort required for manual security tasks, and improving the accuracy of threat detection and response3.

Vulnerability Management

The ASOC tool should provide continuous and automated scanning in DevOps pipelines, centralizing vulnerabilities that are normally scattered across various interfaces and reports, and offering unparalleled visibility into the remediation status of vulnerabilities4.

Resource Allocation

Efficient resource allocation is essential to creating an agile development process that keeps security a top priority. The ASOC tool should assist in this by providing a single view of AppSec issues, allowing for rapid identification and prioritization of significant risks1.

Compliance and Regulatory Support

The ASOC tool should help organizations comply with industry-specific regulations and standards, providing integrated analytics and threat intelligence for the entire security stack, and assessing the security posture of applications3.

User-Friendliness

The ASOC tool should be user-friendly, ensuring that security and development teams can easily collaborate and interact with the tool to address security issues and vulnerabilities3.

Training and Education

The ASOC tool should provide training and education for security and development teams, ensuring that all team members are well-versed in the tool and its benefits4.

Machine Learning Capabilities

Advanced ASOC tools have built-in capabilities that use machine learning to automatically predict vulnerabilities based on past triage decisions, saving organizations time and resources4.

By considering these factors, organizations can select an ASOC tool that best meets their security needs, integrates seamlessly with their existing tools, and provides the necessary support for efficient and effective vulnerability management.