In today's digital world, there's no question that security must be a constant priority for companies — whether it's protecting internal corporate information or their products and solutions.

However, when recessionary forces are lurking, security for products and solutions that are offered or sold to end users, such as Web or mobile applications, needs to become an even greater focus. While it might seem counterintuitive in a climate of cost-cutting to spend on security — essentially looked at as a checklist item — the alternative is a world of pain and more costs.

According to Accenture, cyberattacks grew by 31% between 2020 and 2021. This was right as the US was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative impact it had on the nation's economy. Now, signs may be pointing to another downturn in the economy this year, something reflected by recent layoffs in the industry.

As a result of these economic factors, the reduction in staff and budgets can create the perfect window for cybercriminals to take advantage while companies focus on continuing to operate and sustain themselves.

A Window of Opportunity for Cybercriminals

During down economic periods, companies place a greater focus on generating top-line revenue and allot more staff and resources to accomplish it. This means that, in 2023, companies will prioritize the enhancement of applications by creating new features and functionalities that can drive sales.

Unfortunately, with the majority of staff and resources allocated to application enhancement, security can often fall by the wayside. Particularly, keeping everything updated with the latest security practices.

This deprioritization creates a window of opportunity for cybercriminals to take advantage of flaws or bugs in applications. For example, the Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center (CyRC) recently highlighted a number of vulnerabilities in a few applications available through various app stores. The CyRC stated that it "uncovered weak or missing authentication mechanisms, missing authorization, and insecure communication vulnerabilities" in the apps Lazy Mouse, Telepad, and PC Keyboard. These vulnerabilities could lead to the gathering of sensitive information, such as login credentials, through the exploitation of keystrokes.

Although we don't know the full impact of these vulnerabilities, these are great examples of the types of flaws or bugs that could fall off the list of priorities for many companies.

Application Security Is Nonnegotiable

With any scenario in which an application can be compromised by cybercriminals, there's enormous potential for reputational damage and revenue generation. That's why it's nonnegotiable.

Regardless of whether we're in a recessionary period or not, companies must continue prioritizing all application security activities on the same level as revenue. These activities include:

Keep Priorities in Sight

As companies look ahead and the economy continues to change, it's important they don't lose sight of their priorities. Yes, it's important to continue to find new revenue streams through applications to keep companies profitable. However, that doesn't have to come at the expense of application security.