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products & services

products & services

cloakware security suite

industry perspective

Application Security is the protection of an application against security threats. This is a difficult task, as the application designer or corporate security manager must incorporate defenses against every imaginable attack, whereas an attacker only has to find one vulnerability or point of attack to succeed.

While past techniques have been limited, new technology has been developed to solve this challenging problem. Application Security is comprised of Network Security, Data Security and Software Protection:

  • Network Security is the protection of infrastructure and data services operating across a network from external attack. Network security has traditionally been addressed using firewalls, intrusion detection systems and virus scanners.
  • Data Security is the protection of data used locally by an application or transmitted between users and servers. Cryptography is the main solution here as it is highly effective at protecting data during transmission and storage by ensuring its integrity and confidentiality.
  • Software Protection is the protection of the software, or services rendered by the software, from attacks, thereby preventing theft of intellectual property and licensed content and ensuring that the software continues to function as intended. Typically these attacks include reverse engineering, tampering, copying, and automated forms of these attacks that can be launched across the network or on a desktop by relatively unsophisticated attackers.

The security industry has invested heavily in the development of both Network and Data security, but has largely ignored Software Protection. Software is inherently insecure, and attackers know that it has become the weakest link.

Software viruses provide immediate proof that software can be attacked and its behavior altered. Random and automated virus attacks are perpetrated on anonymous and unsuspecting victims. Targeted attacks on critical systems by sophisticated attackers with specific goals are far more serious and carry deeper ramifications.

While many security techniques exist to protect the data that is used by applications, current software development environments offer few security mechanisms to protect the application itself.

The Cloakware Security Suite is designed to address this unmet challenge.