Optimizing AppSec by Enhancing Integration with Jira

If there’s one thing we learned in our years of building AppSec technology, it’s that the best tools in the world are useless if they don’t get used. We know from speaking with our customers and industry research that developers won’t use AppSec tools that make their lives harder.  Forcing them into cumbersome processes, or making them switch tools and learn a new user interface, will likely lead to AppSec neglect in favor of hitting development deadlines. That’s why we believe in integrating application security into existing workflows — making tools easy to use generally translates into more seamless adoption.  

Wherever possible, we create integrations that overcome this problem. As we mark the start of Atlassian’s Team ’23 event, we are excited to announce a new enhancement to Mend’s Jira integration capabilities that supports “Jira Security.” Now Jira users will have a single place to view and triage security alerts from mixed security vendors.

Why integrate with Jira?

Support for Jira is a very important consideration for many of our customers. Developers are often asked to use Jira, and many security professionals already prefer it as their central record of security issues. As such, it has become a vital tool for application security purposes, alongside tools such as ours.

With this in mind, Atlassian, the producer of Jira, has sought to make security in Jira a primary focus, instead of a bolt-on. As Mend works to deliver the leading AppSec solution on the market, it stands to reason, indeed it’s critical, that we give customers new capabilities to manage and triage security findings in Jira, and this dovetails with our mission to respond to customer needs by providing cutting-edge integrations for them, that make their work faster, easier and more secure.

Benefits

According to research by Atlassian, the average Jira customer has around three security vendors who push data to Jira or would like to. This situation poses the problem of how users can easily view the data that the vendors provide, without the need to switch between different pieces of software. Plus, there’s a need to make it as simple as possible to collate and compare information side-by-side. By viewing all vendors in one place, using the integration with Jira, users will save valuable time and resources when they’re security scanning. And now, developers will enjoy more flexibility and choice to secure their software and applications when using Jira.

Additionally, the integration enables users to find and fix issues and vulnerabilities quickly and early in the SDLC. Integrating Mend enables users to send security findings directly to Jira Security, and Mend users will now be able to adopt and implement cutting-edge capabilities from Jira so that they can better manage their security more easily.  The new ability For Jira Security users, the integration enables them to triage Mend findings in Jira Security before they become serious issues. For both Mend and Jira users, the integration accelerates the early detection and remediation of vulnerabilities that expedite security processes by anticipating and addressing issues before they can compromise your code base.

Keep yourself at the cutting edge of application security

This new enhancement of Mend’s Jira integration capabilities reinforces Mend’s position at the forefront of the application security field. Not every application security provider can offer such capabilities and integrations, nor constantly seeks to introduce new ones. When you’re considering which application security vendor to choose, be sure to ask the vendors on your shortlist how they will provide you with an agile and innovative security solution that can adapt as your needs grow, and change, and that can easily integrate with vital tools like Jira.