Skyward Apps, a top-tier agriculture technology firm, has put its software engineers through training on the Top 10 software security vulnerabilities, as defined by the global Open Web Application Security Project.
Skyward’s additional training comes amidst a sharp uptick in ransomware attacks on the agriculture food supply chain, which has disrupted farm operations, equipment, food processing, and distribution.
“We have always had multiple sets of eyes review every piece of software we develop, but the protection of our clients’ interests-as well as our own-is paramount,” said CEO Kat Crawford. “Agriculture is now a high-tech business, which brings with it both benefits and risks.”
Agriculture is regarded as highly vulnerable to cyber threats due to the complexity of integrating data from farm equipment, sensors, GPS and automation systems, including legacy systems without updated security controls. Another issue is the overall lack of security awareness throughout the sector.
“The theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is ‘Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart’, which is what we strive to do year-round,” said Skyward CTO Nick Elliott. “We systematically check for errors and vulnerabilities as part of our code reviews, automated and manual testing processes.”
The 2021 list of most critical software security risks include three new categories:
• Insecure Design – the result of software design flaws
• Software and Data Integrity Failures – the result of inadequate security controls
• Server-side request forgery – the result of a security bug that allows malicious server requests without validation
The full OWASP Top 10 checklist can be found here.
