The Real Costs of Immature Product Security Programs

“Product security isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a business risk.”

As the line between software flaws and business failures continues to blur, immature product security programs are fast becoming one of the most costly liabilities organizations face.

In an era where connected devices underpin everything from energy infrastructure to surgical systems and modern vehicles, the consequences of underinvesting in product security are far-reaching, fueling technical debt, regulatory exposure, operational disruption, and reputational damage.

What Does an “Immature” Product Security Program Look Like?

An immature product security program is characterized by:

• Ad hoc or manual security workflows
  
  
• Minimal visibility into software components and supply chain risk
  
  
• Little or no automation or governance
  
  
• Siloed security ownership
  
  

While many organizations begin here, failing to evolve introduces significant financial, operational, and reputational risk.

The Hidden—and Not-So-Hidden—Business Costs

Financial Costs

The financial consequences of immature product security are immediate and tangible. Regulatory fines and market access delays are becoming increasingly common as global standards evolve. Under frameworks like the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), manufacturers of connected products must demonstrate robust software supply chain security, including documented SBOMs and evidence of secure-by-design practices. When these requirements aren’t met, product launches can be delayed—or blocked entirely—costing companies millions in missed revenue.

Equally costly is late-stage remediation. Vulnerabilities discovered after a product is in the field are exponentially more expensive to fix than those caught during development. Beyond the direct costs of patching and testing, there's the resource drain on engineering teams, potential contract penalties, and diverted focus from roadmap priorities.

Operational Inefficiencies

Immature programs also create friction within development and security operations. When vulnerabilities surface late in the release cycle, developers are forced into rework that derails sprint timelines and delivery commitments. Manual penetration testing that isn’t integrated into CI/CD pipelines slows down DevSecOps workflows and undermines continuous assurance.

Without a centralized, real-time view of vulnerability risk across software components, remediation efforts are often duplicated, fragmented, and inconsistently prioritized. This reactive mode of operation wastes resources and increases the likelihood that critical risks go unaddressed.

Reputational Damage

Perhaps the most difficult cost to quantify—but the most damaging long-term—is reputational risk. Security incidents stemming from known, unresolved vulnerabilities can lead to customer churn, regulatory investigations, investor unease, and harmful media exposure. In high-stakes industries like healthcare, automotive, and industrial systems, such incidents can also trigger product recalls and legal liability.

In the eyes of your customers and partners, failure to manage product security isn’t just a technical oversight—it’s a breach of trust.

Common Gaps in Immature Security Programs

1. SBOM Blind Spots
   Without proper SBOM generation and management, organizations lack visibility into third-party, open-source, and proprietary components. This makes it nearly impossible to detect vulnerable libraries or outdated dependencies in time.
   
   
2. Penetration Testing That Doesn’t Scale
   Relying on point-in-time, manually driven penetration tests fails to address the speed and scale of today’s product releases. Tests not integrated into CI/CD pipelines miss opportunities for early detection and automated remediation.
   
   
3. Lack of Governance
   Risk management becomes reactive, rather than strategic, without a formalized product security function or cross-functional ownership.
   
   

Curious where your organization stands?

Take our free Product Security Maturity Assessment to benchmark your posture and get actionable next steps.

Maturing Your Security Program: What It Takes

A mature product security program is built on governance, automation, visibility, and continuous improvement.

Key Pillars of Maturity:

• Governance & Strategy: Ensure that security objectives are tightly aligned with business risk and regulatory requirements.
  
  
• Automation & CI/CD Integration: Embed tools like binary SCA, static analysis, and automated testing into DevSecOps pipelines to identify and remediate vulnerabilities early, without slowing down innovation.
  
  
• SBOM Management at Scale: Automate SBOM generation, ingestion, and vulnerability correlation across the product lifecycle. This enables proactive detection of vulnerabilities, license risks, and outdated dependencies before they become liabilities.
  
  
• Pen Testing for the Real World: Conduct continuous and integrated penetration testing. This means not just testing in isolation, but validating security across the entire IoT ecosystem—from firmware and applications to APIs and cloud infrastructure—while ensuring findings are actionable and integrated into your remediation workflows.

“Achieving product security maturity isn't about checking boxes—it's about embedding security into the DNA of your development, operational, and compliance workflows.”

Why Finite State?

Finite State provides a unified platform, and expert-led services are tailored specifically for connected device manufacturers operating in complex, high-stakes industries.

Whether your organization needs to:

• Operationalize SBOM generation and compliance reporting,
  
  
• Conduct deep binary and source-level vulnerability analysis,
  
  
• Implement pen testing that satisfies FDA 524B, EU CRA, or CE RED requirements, or
  
  
• Build a phased roadmap toward product security maturity.
  
  

Finite State delivers the technology, insight, and expertise to accelerate your transformation—securely and at scale. Book a call with us to learn more.