Custom enterprise software refers to a tailor-made solution created to serve the unique needs of a particular business. Typically, these are large-scale solutions enabling companies to automate and streamline their business processes, such as finance, inventory, human resources, accounting or customer relationship management. Bespoke ERP, CRM and HRM systems are some common examples of custom enterprise software.
As with any software, custom enterprise solutions can be targeted by hackers, and the consequences of even one successful attack can be devastating. Malefactors can steal confidential corporate data or disrupt a company’s services, which can result in reputation and financial losses. That is why building secure custom enterprise software and protecting it against cyber threats is critical.
This article outlines common cyber threats for custom enterprise software and showcases cyber security measures to help companies build secure custom enterprise software.
What Threats Pose a Risk to Custom Enterprise Software?
The modern threat landscape is more complex than ever. In recent years, many new threats have emerged, and the existing ones have become more sophisticated. Enterprise software experts from Itransition consider these threats to pose the most significant risk for custom enterprise software.
Malware
Hackers can use various malicious programs (from trojans and viruses to ransomware and spyware) to breach custom enterprise software via vulnerabilities, insecure APIs or other entry points. Malware represents the fastest-growing cybersecurity threat for businesses, as highlighted by the 2024 Thales Data Threat Report. According to the report, 41 percent of companies suffered from a malware attack in 2023.
Brute Forcing
A brute force attack is one of the most known hacking methods, which involves guessing the correct login credentials to penetrate user accounts. According to the recent Elastic Global Threat Report, there was a 12 percent increase in brute force attacks in 2024. These attacks have also become more complex, and hackers can now target hundreds, if not thousands, of accounts simultaneously.
Social Engineering
Malefactors can also use various social engineering techniques, such as phishing, pretexting or baiting, to manipulate users and gain access to their enterprise software accounts. This year’s Data Breach Investigations Report from Verizon states that 68 percent of breaches within companies in 2024 exploited a non-malicious human element, such as employees falling victim to social engineering attacks.
Insider Threats
Suppose an employee uses its authorized access to a company's custom enterprise solution to steal data or harm a company in some other way. Such cybersecurity risk originating from within a company is called an insider threat. In a 2024 survey from Gurucul, 48 percent of companies reported that insider attacks had become increasingly more widespread.
How to Improve Custom Enterprise Software Security
Creating the right architecture design is critical. If cybersecurity isn’t a focal point in software design, it can lead to additional vulnerabilities and data breaches. To build a secure software architecture, a development team should use these and other practices:
Follow the Principle of Least Privilege
This principle states that each software component should have only the minimum set of privileges necessary to perform its function. Limiting the privileges of each component to a minimum reduces the attack surface and decreases the potential damage in the event of a security breach.
Use Data Encryption
Enterprise-grade applications enable numerous data flows within a business and accumulate vast amounts of information related to a company's finances, inventory, customers and so on. The team should ensure that this data is stored and transmitted securely by using data encryption, masking and tokenization. These measures help ensure that the data remains undecipherable to a malefactor even in case of a successful attack.
Implement Fine-Grained Access Control
To decrease the risk of data theft or loss, a company should govern access to its custom software based on the roles of individual users. Here, the role-based access control (RBAC) model comes in handy. This security practice implies that users should have different levels of access depending on their roles and responsibilities in the organization. Therefore, the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information is minimized.
Enhance Endpoint Security
A custom solution can be connected to a wide range of endpoint systems, such as laptops, mobile phones, IoT sensors, wearables, and other devices. Since each of these endpoints can be a potential entry point for hackers, developers must ensure they are all secured.
To cope with this task efficiently, IT professionals can use a centralized endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution. These tools help ensure the security of endpoints across various types of devices connected to the company's IT infrastructure. For example, such a solution can offer a firewall that detects suspicious network traffic and blocks it automatically based on predefined or dynamic rules.
EDR solutions can also monitor all files and programs downloaded to a connected end-user device to identify a wider range of cyber risks. For example, EDR tools can detect ransomware, fileless malware and other types of threats to prevent attacks efficiently.
Resorting to Managed IT Security Services
A company also requires an experienced IT security team to monitor its IT environment and keep its enterprise software protected 24/7. However, given the global IT security shortage, finding and allocating the right people can be challenging. This lack of talent can cause increased load and stress for security teams and decrease their ability to prevent threats efficiently.
If a company aims to improve the security of its IT infrastructure and custom enterprise software but does not pose the required capacity, it can consider resorting to managed IT security services. Outsourcing IT security experts can help a company develop a robust security strategy covering its business requirements, run a software security audit, implement the right incident response framework and perform other tasks aimed at more efficient security risk management.
Custom enterprise software is a large-scale bespoke solution used by a business to manage its essential functions. Since these solutions store vast amounts of confidential data and support a wide range of business processes, protecting them against cyber threats is crucial.
Designing a secure software architecture is the first necessary step in this regard. As a typical enterprise solution is connected to hundreds of endpoints, ensuring endpoint security is no less important. Additionally, a company should consider using managed IT security services to ensure 24/7 infrastructure and software protection.
