More and more, organizations today are recognizing the imperative need for legacy application modernization. Gartner forecasted cloud security as the largest growing spending category this year at 24.7%, while application security was expected to account for $6.5 billion in spending. Technical debt from legacy applications creates cybersecurity risks that must be addressed.
The transformation from outdated systems to innovative and agile solutions is not just a matter of staying relevant—it is about ensuring the businesses' long-term survival and competitiveness in a technology-driven world. Modernizing legacy applications is an intricate process that demands strategic planning, careful execution, and a profound understanding of the intertwining relationship between application modernization and cloud security.
Legacy applications, often built on obsolete technology stacks and outdated architectures, are challenging. They are expensive to maintain, lack the agility to adapt to new business requirements, and are susceptible to security vulnerabilities. The federal pandemic relief program, which required processing hundreds of thousands of unemployment claims, also revealed an alarming number of states using systems that relied on COBOL, a dead language in today’s Python-driven AI world.
Removing outdated tech stacks and modernizing legacy applications are essential to mitigate cybersecurity risks, enhance operational efficiency, and unlock new possibilities for innovation and growth.
Dangers of Legacy Applications
App modernization is complex, and security is a paramount concern. Cybercriminals rely on outdated software to exploit vulnerabilities like Log4j, a Java logging library security flaw discovered at the end of 2021. Years later, some enterprises are still working to update their legacy systems and protect their data.
These apps are often deeply embedded, and organizations get away with compensating controls. This means inserting another application on top of the legacy application to protect it since you can’t use what are now basic security features like password authentication, much less multi-factor authentication. This leaves private data vulnerable to security breaches, as legacy applications often do not support patches.
One device without patched software can make the entire network vulnerable to breach, requiring teams of coders with proprietary code libraries to keep new weaknesses secure. This leaves organizations putting band-aids on a broken arm, but there are modern solutions for these problems.
Application Modernization and Cloud Security
Integrating cloud technologies is a central element in modernization, offering numerous benefits like cost savings, scalability, and accessibility. The move to remote work and bring-your-own-device policies was only possible because companies utilized cloud-based apps that could be pushed remotely to various devices without compromising security.
Security in application modernization is not just about protecting applications and data, but about building trust while accommodating the end user’s needs. The cost of modernization is less than the potential risks, and legacy application modernization is critical for organizations looking to thrive in the digital age.
Utilizing the cloud makes creating user profiles, setting access levels, and potentially isolating bad actors much more straightforward. This is done through virtualization—in a virtualized environment, users have limited connectivity, and administrators can monitor all access while within the domain.
If the system is compromised, it’s much easier to effectively neutralize them so they cannot continue to compromise other parts of the network. They can also be stopped from running executables and introducing malware like ransomware (one of the top cybersecurity concerns of 2023) into the system.
API security is another solution to keep enterprise data safe from bad actors. In fact, the best approach is a hybrid solution involving encryption, security keys, and multi-factor authentication in a zero-trust environment. The costs involved in this modernization must also be considered.
While it is almost always the more advantageous choice, cloud computing also is more expensive than on-premises in nine out of 10 cases. However, the value provided by the cloud runs deeper into the operational supply chain. Disaster recovery, for example, requires data centers to spread geographically to ensure businesses are fully protected in the event of catastrophic failure in one place.
Plus, the centralized coding makes IT and cybersecurity much more efficient across the board. Updates and threat detection are more effective, and enterprises that embrace these new technologies rather than relying on legacy apps save time while reducing the costly maintenance and increased risk associated with outdated software.
To start modernizing your tech stack, reach out to an expert at CTG today.
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