Development and testing environments under attack

The channel is being urged to help users increase the security protecting testing and development environments as the number of cyber attacks on those areas increases.

The Delphix 2024 State of data compliance and security report has some sobering numbers for those hoping they can skimp on data protection across some parts of the business and still avoid becoming victim to cyber crime.

According to the report, from Perforce Software, areas of the business that are non-production environments, including development, testing and analytics, were coming under attack, causing increasing headaches for users that had failed to maintain consistent policies or identify tools to defend against breaches.

The firm found that 54% of customers had suffered a breach in a non-production environment, but the vast majority of users (86%) allowed exceptions because testing and development was treated differently.

David Wells, product lead of compliance products for Delphix by Perforce, said the headline findings underlined the need for partners to educate and increase protection across user environments.

“Anyone in the channel who is handling sensitive consumer or patient data, anywhere in the world, whether they are integrators or ISVs, should be very interested in this report, as it includes relevant findings on the current level of risk that exists in many organisations regarding the potential loss of this information,” he said.

“We hear all the time from customers that exceptions are given because it’s too complicated and time-consuming to achieve compliance without slowing down development or impacting quality.”