Application Security
Find and fix flaws in your software before attackers do. Code and dependency scanning, API and authentication testing, and secure coding built into how your team already ships.
Service Details
Application security gives you software that holds up against attack, with flaws found and fixed while they are still cheap to change. You get testing that finds real problems, secure coding habits your engineers keep, and API and authentication controls that stand up to scrutiny from customers and auditors.
We work inside your existing delivery process, from pull request to production. It sits within our assessments and engineering services, alongside the testing and design work that keeps your systems secure as they change.
INFO
You get security built into how your team already ships, rather than a list of findings delivered the week before launch.
Who application security is for
This service suits organisations that build or heavily customise their own software: web applications, customer portals, mobile back ends and APIs. It is a good fit if you release often, rely on open-source packages, or face security questionnaires from customers who want proof your code is safe.
It also helps if you have tools in place but too much noise. Many teams run a scanner that produces hundreds of findings nobody acts on. We turn that into a short list your engineers can work through.
What application security covers
Testing, controls and practices across your code and the components it depends on:
Code and Dependency Scanning
Static application security testing (SAST) on your own code and software composition analysis (SCA) on open-source packages, tuned so findings are worth acting on.
Running Application Testing
Dynamic application security testing (DAST) and manual checks against the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) for the flaws scanners miss.
API Security
Testing against the OWASP API Security Top 10, then fixes for object-level access checks, authentication, rate limiting and data exposure.
Authentication and Authorisation
Sign-in, session handling and permission checks reviewed so every user and service can reach only what it needs.
How we work
You get a programme that fits your release cadence, not a fixed engagement that ignores how your team works.
- Baseline — We review your applications, pipeline and current tools, and test a representative sample to see where real risk sits.
- Prioritise — Findings are ranked by how exploitable they are and what they would expose, so engineers fix what matters first.
- Embed — Scanning moves into your pipeline with rules tuned to your stack, and pull request reviews pick up issues before merge.
- Coach — Your engineers learn the patterns behind recurring flaws, using examples from your own code rather than generic slides.
- Retest — Fixes are verified and new releases are checked, so progress is measured rather than assumed.
What you keep when we step back
The aim is a team that catches its own flaws. These are the artefacts that stay with you and keep working after each phase.
Findings Register
Every open issue with owner, severity and fix status
Secure Coding Standard
Rules for your stack, mapped to OWASP ASVS levels
Dependency Inventory
A software bill of materials (SBOM) for each application
Application security or product security?
Application Security
Secures your application code: secure coding, testing, API security and authentication controls.
Start here when live code carries the risk.
Product Security
Secures your whole product across its lifecycle: secure design, supply chain, vulnerability disclosure and incident response.
Choose this when you sell software and need to manage it from design to end of life.
Building a product end to end? See product security. Want risks caught at design stage, before code exists? Threat modelling maps how your system could be attacked. Need an independent attack on a live system? That is penetration testing.
Security designed in from the first sprint
An unauthenticated legacy desktop SMS tool became a secure cloud platform with single sign-on, shared templates, bulk sending and full audit logging. The controls were part of the build, not a review bolted on before launch.
Evidence for audits and customer questionnaires
A secure software development lifecycle (secure SDLC) produces the records auditors ask for as part of the work. Scan results, review records, retest evidence and dependency inventories support PCI DSS requirement 6 on secure systems and software, and the secure development controls in ISO 27001 Annex A.
The same evidence helps you answer customer security questionnaires and show alignment with the NCSC Software Security Code of Practice, published in 2025 for organisations that build and sell software. Our compliance support team can package it for your auditor.
Services that work alongside
Application security pairs with the rest of our engineering work. CI/CD security hardens the pipeline itself, including secrets, build integrity and deployment permissions. If your applications include AI features or large language model integrations, AI and ML security covers model testing and prompt-injection checks.
For the hosting underneath, cloud security keeps your cloud configuration in line. Threat and vulnerability management tracks weaknesses across the wider estate.
Frequently asked questions
Ship code you can stand behind
Tell us what you build, how you release it and where your worries are. You get a clear view of the testing and practices your applications need, sized to your team rather than a generic programme.