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Cypress Data Defense Unveils Application Security Report for 2025

In an era marked by escalating cyber threats, Cypress Data Defense, in collaboration with TechStudio, has released the 2025 State of Application Security Report. This shocking report exposes a significant issue within the industry: 62% of organizations admit to knowingly releasing insecure code to meet tight deadlines. This startling trend highlights a broader crisis in application security management as the cost of breaches escalates.

Key Findings

The survey, conducted among 250 senior IT and security leaders across North America, uncovered several alarming trends:

• - The average cost of a security breach has skyrocketed to $9.48 million in the U.S.
• - Despite this, nearly 90% of organizations allocate just 11–20% of their security budgets to application security measures, leaving many systems dangerously exposed.

Security Delays and Pressures

One of the core findings revealed that 60% of IT leaders believe that security problems are more likely to delay product launches than actual feature bugs. However, only 36% of teams are involving security considerations during the planning phase, with a staggering 57% waiting until just before deployment to address security concerns. This reactive approach underscores a misalignment between urgency and security investment.

Amid the pressures of deadlines, it's no surprise that 62% of organizations find themselves pushing insecure code to production, with 58% of teams noting that they frequently encounter false positives from security scanners. Furthermore, nearly 51% of security teams have managed to deal with the OWASP Top 10 threats, leaving approximately half still vulnerable to foundational risks.

Budget Misalignment

The report starkly reveals how misaligned budgets exacerbate these risks; application-layer attacks represent 43% of breaches. Interestingly, 36% of companies are spending more on network security than on application security. An astonishing 1% manage to invest over 20% of their total security budget into application security initiatives. As security budgets remain stagnant, the risk continues to rise, amplifying the urgency for change.

Outsourcing as a Solution

In light of these challenges, 83% of companies are considering outsourcing application security functions. Eight out of ten AppSec professionals are open to external assistance, driven by staffing limitations, talent shortages, and the relentless pace of development cycles. This trend emphasizes a growing recognition that leveraging external expertise is crucial to fortifying application security.

The Crisis Within Security Teams

A concerning theme of burnout permeates the report, with 62% of security professionals expressing fears of losing their jobs following a breach. 17% state that termination is likely in such scenarios. As John Cure, Co-Founder and Director of Cyber Security at Cypress Data Defense, states: “False positives, talent shortages, and late-stage vulnerability detection are creating a perfect storm for application security teams.”

To mitigate these challenges, Cypress Data Defense advocates for a shift towards proactive application security strategies. Their hybrid AppSec model, including the EASy managed service, aims to help teams integrate security seamlessly without hampering the development process. These expert-led services encompass secure code reviews and scalable remediation support.

Conclusion

The 2025 State of Application Security Report illustrates vital necessities for organizations: a change in approach towards proactive application security, improved budget allocations, and perhaps a necessary embrace of outsourced support. With security challenges escalating alongside costs, organizations must evolve quickly or face increasingly dire consequences. For those interested in a deeper dive, the full survey results can be accessed at Cypress Data Defense's website.

Cypress Data Defense is dedicated to helping organizations enhance their application security through expertise in vulnerability management and secure coding practices, enabling teams to deliver secure software faster and more efficiently.