Do Business Owners Need Both Mobile Apps and Mobile Websites for Their Businesses?

A steady increase is being noted in the number of people accessing digital content on their smartphones, tablets and phablets. A large number of people even use their mobile devices from accessing websites, using social networks, and checking emails. Many studies have shown that a large number of users prefer mobile apps to mobile websites to avail personalized experience and location-based services. But no enterprise can increase its sales and revenue by replacing its website with a mobile app. A business needs both mobile apps and mobile websites to reach out to a higher number of users and convert them into customers.

Pros and Cons of Building a Mobile App

Several companies have used mobile apps successfully to keep the users engaged and increase conversion rates. The mobile app makes it easier for customers to interact with the business and its products/services. In addition to communicating with the customers more effectively, a business can also use the mobile apps to promote its products/services and increase sales through attractive offers and discounts. The mobile app will further make it easier for the business to promote and popularize its new products and services within a shorter amount of time. Also, the business can use its mobile app as an efficient tool to build a powerful brand.

But an enterprise cannot avail these benefits without making its app available on multiple platforms. At present, the worldwide market share of Android exceeds that of iOS by a large margin. But the people using iOS-powered devices are more likely to indulge in mobile commerce and in-app purchases. Hence, the business must make its app available for Android to accomplish more downloads and for iOS to boost sale of products/services. Often small companies and start-ups lack the resources like talented mobile app developers to develop native mobile apps for multiple mobile platforms due to varying application code and programming language. Hence, many enterprises opt for cross-platform mobile apps to reach out to more users by overcoming the operating system and device diversity.

Pros and Cons of Developing a Mobile Website

As mentioned earlier, many businesses lack the resources required to make native mobile apps for multiple mobile platforms. But each enterprise can launch a mobile website without investing extra time, effort and money. The mobile website can be accessed by users through a browser on a wide variety of devices and operating systems. The enterprise can further update the website and make new functionalities available to each user almost instantaneously. Also, it can promote the website on search engines and social networks to increase both number of visitors and increase conversion rate.

An enterprise also has option to convert its mobile website into a web application that functions just like native mobile apps. But the mobile websites, unlike mobile apps, lack the capability to access the native features of the underlying mobile device and operating system. Hence, the mobile websites lack the capability to deliver personalized user experience. Also, an enterprise cannot provide location-based services efficiently through a mobile website. That is why; it becomes essential the business to focus on the user experience delivered by the mobile websites to keep the visitor engaged and convert them into customers.

Bridging the Gap between Mobile Apps and Mobile Websites

On the whole, both mobile app and mobile website have their own benefits and shortcomings. An enterprise has to optimize the user experience delivered by its mobile website to accomplish higher conversion rate and boost sales. Likewise, it needs to focus on the accessibility, functionality, performance and security of the mobile app to make it last longer on users’ devices. Hence, enterprises often find it challenging to manage both mobile apps and mobile websites at once. However, a business can bridge the gap between its mobile app and mobile website in a number of ways.

Google recommends businesses to make their websites deliver mobile user experience by developing progressive web apps. Like mobile websites, the progressive websites are searchable and can be updated immediately. But the users have option to install the progressive web apps on their mobile devices. Also, they can access these apps even when there is not internet connectivity. The progressive web apps still supports push notification, local notification, and similar features provided by native mobile apps.

Also, an enterprise can consider launching a mobile website initially to overcome constraints related to time and resources. It can subsequently convert the mobile website into a mobile app and make it available on multiple mobile platforms. There are a number of tools that enable users to convert their existing websites into a platform-specific mobile app while keeping its structure and content intact. These tools further make it easier for enterprises to develop and maintain both mobile apps and mobile websites simultaneously. Hence, an enterprise must explore ways to launch and manage both mobile apps and mobile websites efficiently to reach out to more users and accomplish higher conversion rates.

Security Testing of Web Applications

A number of studies have shown a steady increase in the number of unique pieces of malware created and distributed by cyber criminals. Many cyber criminals even use advanced techniques to take control of a website, and use it for malware distribution. Hence, each enterprise must get the security of websites and web application assessed on a regular basis. It must deploy seasoned testers to identify all vulnerabilities in the web application that make it prone to a variety of targeted malware attacks.

The testers will also evaluate the hosting environment of the web application to check if it is deployed in a secure environment, and accessed by users over a secure network. They will further combine various security testing techniques and tools to decide the measures required to keep the web application functional and protect valuable business data continuously. However, the enterprise must embed security testing smoothly into the software development and deployment process. Also, it needs to make security testing a continuously process to protect the web application from emerging security threats and new pieces of malware.

Why Security Testing of Web Applications must be a Continuous Process?

Cyber Criminals can Target Any Website

The information posted on various websites depict that cyber criminals have already hacked the website of many Fortune 500 companies. Unlike small businesses and start-ups, the fortune 500 companies always build comprehensive web application security defences. Despite investing in the latest security techniques, the large enterprises often fail to protect their web applications from emerging security threats. The cyber criminals combine innovative technique and advanced tools to break the security defence built by enterprises. Hence, each website nowadays is vulnerable to security attacks regardless of its size, usage, popularity, and location.

Access Control can be exploited

The term access control includes all authentication and authorization required to access a website, web server, hosting panel, and business system. Often programmers implement a variety of authorization and authentication to make the website accessible only to authorized users. But the cyber criminals use varying techniques to make the access control systems ineffective. For instance, the hackers commonly use a technique called brute force to login to a website by using possible username and password combinations. Thus, the access control system implemented by the developers often fails to combat the new techniques used by hackers. A business can always prevent the access control system of its website from being exploited by performing elaborate security testing.

Each Piece of Code has Flaws

Despite exercising utmost care and caution, programmers often fail to eliminate all flaws in the source code of the web applications. The flaws in its source code often make the website vulnerable to targeted malware attacks. The cyber criminals frequently look for ways hack website by taking advantage of the loopholes in the websites, web server, or deployment environment. These vulnerabilities further make it easier for hackers to execute SQL injection, local file inclusion, code execution and similar security attacks remotely. The seasoned software testing professionals often think like cyber criminals while testing websites and web applications. They even use the right techniques to identify and eliminate all security vulnerabilities in the web application and infrastructure.

Minimal Control over Third-Party Services and APIs

Nowadays most web applications use a variety of third-party APIs and services to deliver optimal user experience. The integration of third-party services and APIs makes it easier for developers to enhance the website’s functionality, usability, and user experience. But the third-party APIs and services make the websites vulnerable to various security threats. Often cyber criminals try to access the websites and infrastructure through the pieces of code written by external programmers. For instance, they always try to spread malware through the external ad networks. So a business must conduct security testing to ensure that each third-party service or API used by the web application is safe. Also, it must get the web application tested thoroughly to ensure that the third-party codes are not affecting the web application’s overall security.

Compromising Sensitive Customer Data

The security loopholes in a web application will affect the customers directly. The security loopholes will make it easier for cyber criminals to access confidential and private data of customers through cross-site scripting. The hackers can further use the sensitive customer data to conduct identity thefts. Likewise, the cyber criminals can also access the sensitive customer data stored in databases by executing SQL injection. So the security of a web application will impact its popularity and goodwill in the longer run. When a business performs comprehensive security testing, it becomes easier for the websites to keep all customer data secure.

Devastating Consequences of Security Breach

Often the malware attacks on small websites remain unreported and unnoticed. But the security issues in a website can have devastating effect on a small businesses and start-ups. Most states nowadays have strict laws to protect the sensitive information of citizens. When the private information of citizens is accessed by cyber criminals through its web application, an enterprise has to pay stiff fines and penalties. The security breach will further make the customers lose trust in the website. So each business must assess the security of its web applications continuously regardless of its size and scale. Also, each business must perform elaborate security testing to protect its web applications from emerging security threats.

Keep the Web Applications Functional and Live

Recently, many large enterprises have to shut down their websites and mobile apps temporarily due to denial of service attacks. Likewise, a steady increase is also being noted in the number of enterprises spending a lot of money due to ransomware. Hence, often enterprises fail to keep their web applications functional and live despite investing in robust security technologies and tools. When an enterprise performs security testing continuously, it can easily assess how the web application behaves and functions in the event of denial of service or ransomware attacks. The security testing results will further make it easier for the enterprise to decide the measures required to keep its web application functional and live despite varying targeted security attacks.

Implement Key Security Concepts

A number of studies have shown that the cyber criminals have been developing and distributing unique pieces of malware on a regular basis. Each emerging malware attacks the website through the loopholes in the authentication and authorization, input validation, login system and exception management. Hence, an enterprise must implement key security concepts like authorization, authentication, availability, integrity, confidentiality and non-repudiation to protect its web application from new malwares. Also, the business needs to implement the security concepts in the most appropriate way to make the website accessible only to genuine and authorized users. The security testing results will make it easier for the business to decide if the key security concepts are implemented perfectly.

On the whole, each enterprise must make security testing an integral part of the web application’s software development lifecycle (SDLC). It must get all security vulnerabilities in the website identified and fixed before its deployment to avoid releasing security patches in future. At the same time, the business also needs to assess the security of the website after deployment to keep it functional and eliminate impact of new pieces of malware.