Guardsquare Highlights Research Showing Organizations Shifting from Mobile Security Overconfidence to Proactive Protection

BOSTON and LEUVEN, Belgium – Sept. 9, 2025 – Guardsquare, the leading provider of mobile application security products, is highlighting new findings from a study conducted by Enterprise Strategy Group, which reveal how widespread overconfidence in mobile app security is driving a fundamental shift in organizational priorities. While 93% of organizations believe their current protections are sufficient, the reality that 62% suffered mobile app breaches in the past year—averaging nine incidents each—is driving a move toward more proactive, comprehensive security strategies that balance development speed with robust protection.

The pressure to accelerate release cycles compounds this blind spot, with 71% of organizations admitting speed has compromised mobile app security.

“The data is clear, and the perceived trade-off between speed and security is a false choice that is costing organizations,” said Roel Caers, CEO of Guardsquare. “When developers are under immense pressure to release new features, and security is seen as a roadblock, they are forced to sacrifice protection for time-to-market. This reactive, fire-fighting approach is unsustainable. What’s needed is a proactive, integrated strategy where security is an enabler, not a hindrance.”

The report’s key findings expose the critical vulnerabilities organizations leave unaddressed:

• Low adoption of proactive defenses: Almost 70% of organizations don't use obfuscation to protect their mobile apps, and 60% lack Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP), leaving their apps vulnerable to both static and dynamic analysis.
• iOS apps are not immune: Challenging a long-held industry myth, more than 70% of organizations believe that iOS apps pose a moderate or higher level security risk.
• Consequences extend beyond the balance sheet: The impacts of security incidents extend beyond the average reported cost. More than half of respondents (54%) reported application downtime, 48% experienced data leakage, and 41% suffered a loss of consumer trust.

“As organizations face pressure to develop feature-rich applications that can be easily used from any device, attackers often target vulnerabilities in mobile applications,” said Melinda Marks, Practice Director, Cybersecurity, for Enterprise Strategy Group. “To stay ahead of threats and attacks, security teams need to take a proactive approach to mobile application security with the right tools and processes incorporated into development workflows to help developers optimize efficiency and security as they release robust applications.”

The full report, “From Overconfident to Proactive: Why Mobile App Security is Primed for a Cultural Shift,” is available for download at: https://www.guardsquare.com/report/overconfidence-exposes-mobile-app-security-gaps

About Enterprise Strategy Group

Enterprise Strategy Group™, part of Omdia, provides focused and actionable market intelligence, demand-side research, analyst advisory services, GTM strategy guidance, solution validations, and custom content supporting enterprise technology buying and selling.

About Guardsquare

Guardsquare offers the most complete approach to mobile application security on the market, delivering the highest level of protection in the easiest possible way. Guardsquare's software integrates seamlessly across the development cycle, from app security testing to code hardening to real-time visibility into the threat landscape. Guardsquare products provide enhanced mobile application security from early in the development process through publication. More than 975 organizations worldwide across all major industries rely on Guardsquare to help them identify security risks and protect their mobile applications and SDKs against reverse engineering and tampering in the ever-evolving threat landscape. Learn more at Guardsquare.com and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Tracy Wemett
BroadPR
+1-617-868-5031
tracy@broadpr.com 

All trademarks recognized.

 ¹Source: Enterprise Strategy Group eBook, “Mobile Application Security Can’t Be an Afterthought” June 2025