Software Development Security

Software development is a challenging and complex endeavor performed by developers with different system analysis, design, programming and above all varying knowhow of cybersecurity awareness. Software and applications developed and modified by these professionals manage and maintain sensitive personal and/or organizational data that may be accessed and consumed by stakeholders and the general public. This implies that applications present significant risks to the security of information and information systems in an organization. Besides, information security professionals must understand these imminent risks and should balance them with business requirements and develop appropriate risk mitigation mechanisms through security controls and safeguards.

Many organizations nowadays use custom-built software products to achieve their business requirements and objectives. However, these custom products present grave security concerns and vulnerabilities as a result of malicious and/or negligent software developers who may establish backdoors, buffer over vulnerabilities and other security weaknesses that may expose organizational assets for exploitation by malicious actors. To protect the assets and cope with these security vulnerabilities, it is highly imperative to incorporate security controls into the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC) as early as possible. Enterprises should have organized and methodical process to ensure that software products meet functional requirements as well as security requirements.

The software development lifecycle (SDLC) phases are listed as follows:

• Initiation and planning
• Requirements analysis
• Design and Development
• Implementation
• Testing
• Deployment
• Support and maintenance
• Disposal

Security should be baked-in in each phase of the SDLC in order to be effective and protect organizational assets and customer data.

Organizations should stride to embedded security within the software product itself, instead of retrofitting security after it is finished or after sustaining cyberattacks. In addition, enterprises and developers should consider the following components when aspiring to develop secure software products.

• Software development methodology such as Waterfall, Agile, DevOps, Spiral, Extreme Programming (XP), Cleanroom,
• Programming language types
• Libraries
• APIs
• Development toolsets or IDEs
• Runtime
• Secure coding standards
• Documentation

Security measures to consider in secure SDLC include the following:

• Input validation
• Authentication systems
• Session management
• Error and exception handling
• Logging and auditing
• Software testing
• Secure code repository
• Service level agreements (SLAs)
• Secure third-party software acquisition
• Secure database development
• Cell suppression
• Polyinstantiation
• Maturity models
• Software configuration management
• Change management
• Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR)
• Security testing
• OWASP Top 10 Web application security
• Risk analysis and mitigation strategies
• Secure coding standards and guidelines
• Common weakness enumeration (CWE)
• Common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE)
• Secure APIs
• Secure cryptographic algorithms
• Security awareness training programs
• Managed security services