40% of Apps Leaking Information

More than 40% of applications are actively leaking information and are at risk of exposing sensitive data, according to new data from WhiteHat Security. Apps in the manufacturing sector are particularly vulnerable.  

The firm's AppSec Stats Flash Volume 3, the latest installment in a series of reports, finds 70% of applications in manufacturing have at least one serious vulnerability open over the previous 12 months. The window of exposure is also highest in manufacturing.

"Window of exposure is a major concern as applications remain increasingly vulnerable across all industries, particularly manufacturing and finance," said Setu Kulkarni, vice president of corporate strategy and business development at White Hat, in a release about the report. 

Overall, the report finds time to fix remains high across sectors. The top five vulnerability classes in recent months are information leakage, insufficient session expiration, cross site scripting, insufficient transport layer protection, and content spoofing.

"Pedestrian vulnerabilities continue to plague applications. The effort and skill required to discover and exploit these vulnerabilities is fairly low, thus making it easier for the adversary," the report states. "At the same time, focusing on remediating these vulnerabilities presents an immediate and imminently achievable goal for development and security teams alike."

The full report can be found here.