How can you implement secure development standards?

Secure development standards are a set of best practices and guidelines for creating software systems that are resilient to cyberattacks and comply with relevant regulations. They help developers avoid common vulnerabilities, reduce risks, and improve quality and performance. In this article, we will discuss how you can implement secure development standards in your system development projects.

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1 Assess your security needs

The first step to implement secure development standards is to assess your security needs and objectives. You need to identify the threats and risks that your system faces, the legal and ethical requirements that you have to follow, and the security goals that you want to achieve. You can use frameworks and tools such as ISO 27001, NIST SP 800-53, OWASP Top 10, and threat modeling to help you with this process. You should also involve your stakeholders, such as customers, users, and managers, to understand their expectations and preferences.

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Suprajha Kanna

Information Security @Rubrik | Graduate Student & Teaching Assistant | MEng. Cybersecurity
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Some ways to get started are: - Take one step at a time to analyze the security policies in place and make list of standards to be developed - Prioritize the list based on need -

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2 Choose your security standards

The next step is to choose the security standards that suit your system and your organization. There are many security standards available, such as OWASP ASVS, CIS Benchmarks, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. You should select the ones that cover the relevant aspects of your system, such as authentication, encryption, data protection, access control, logging, and auditing. You should also consider the level of detail, complexity, and compatibility of the standards. You can use online resources, such as the Secure Coding Knowledge Base, to compare and contrast different standards.

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3 Integrate security into your development process

The third step is to integrate security into your development process. You should adopt a security-by-design approach, which means that you consider security from the start and throughout the lifecycle of your system. You should also follow the secure software development life cycle (SSDLC), which consists of six phases: planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and deployment. Each phase should include security activities, such as threat modeling, code review, security testing, and security audit. You should also use tools and methods, such as secure coding standards, static and dynamic analysis, penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning, to help you detect and fix security issues.

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Blake Dorsett

Founder at AppSecFamily | AE at OpsMx
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The harsh reality of integrating security into development is this: Developers prefer coding over security tasks. They often distrust security tools, especially static ones that flood them with unsorted alerts. Consequently, dev teams often ignore these alerts due to their overwhelming volume. Mere implementation of any SCA or SAST tool won't suffice; expecting dev teams to fix all vulnerabilities is unrealistic for most organizations. The remedy? Security professionals must adopt prioritized security solutions to ease the burden on dev teams. There are several new tools coming out that offer prioritization that previous generations of tools didn't. You must do your homework and work with the dev team to get feedback.

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4 Train and educate your developers

The fourth step is to train and educate your developers on secure development standards. You should provide them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to apply the standards effectively. You should also create a security culture, which means that you foster a positive attitude and behavior towards security among your developers. You can use various strategies, such as security awareness campaigns, security champions, security incentives, and security feedback, to motivate and empower your developers to follow the standards.

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5 Monitor and update your security standards

The final step is to monitor and update your security standards regularly. You should measure and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your security standards, using metrics and indicators, such as security incidents, vulnerabilities, defects, and compliance rates. You should also review and update your security standards periodically, to reflect the changes in your system, your organization, and your environment. You should also keep track of the latest security trends, technologies, and threats, and adjust your standards accordingly.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you implement secure development standards?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Assess your security needs

2 Choose your security standards

3 Integrate security into your development process

4 Train and educate your developers

5 Monitor and update your security standards

6 Here’s what else to consider

System Development

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How can you implement secure development standards?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Assess your security needs

2 Choose your security standards

3 Integrate security into your development process

4 Train and educate your developers

5 Monitor and update your security standards

6 Here’s what else to consider

System Development

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

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