
This article details best practices and frameworks available to developers when creating secure software, with particular attention paid to early vulnerability identification and resolution when costs can be significantly less expensive and time more efficient.
In addition, resources created by security software development experts will also be discussed and made available as resources that you may use during software security development projects.
What Is Secure Software Development?

Secure software development methodologies integrate security at every stage, rather than only taking action when critical flaws have been revealed during tests.
Security assurance should become part of the planning stage itself so as to be integrated before any code has even been written down.
Security can often be seen by developers as an impediment to creativity and innovation, delaying product launches.
Unfortunately, this attitude only serves to hurt the companys bottom line further.
How pleased would customers be about new cool features in an application that contains security flaws hackers can exploit? Today, software development organizations that fail to prioritize it risk becoming irrelevant quickly.
Organizations looking to provide secure software must lay the groundwork for success by preparing employees, processes, and technologies for this challenge.
A well-considered secure software development strategy offers organizations that want to develop secure apps the greatest opportunity of ensuring a positive result.
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What Is a Secure Software Development Policy?

Secure software development policies provide guidelines that outline best practices an organization should follow to reduce software vulnerability risks, as well as instructions on how to view, assess and demonstrate security throughout each stage of SDLC and demonstrate risk mitigation methods.
Secure software development policies must outline rules and expectations for your people. Team members should be made fully aware of their roles, receive full training on what their duties entail, as well as thorough employee screening processes.
By segregating duties across individuals or teams, segregated control or knowledge about any one project remains decentralized; for this purpose, testing protocols should also be employed regularly to evaluate employees.
An effective software development policy must also include processes necessary to secure software. Separating development, test, and operation environments is key in encouraging autonomy while eliminating biases or unauthorized code changes; additionally, access control ensures employees only access data relevant to their jobs.
Use A Secure Software Development Framework For Maximum Consistency And To Guarantee Best Practices
Many organizations can gain from adopting an established framework like NISTs Secure Software Development Framework.
Organizations like OWASP and SAFEcode offer resources on software security that aim to reduce, mitigate and eradicate future software vulnerabilities.
Take a look at the NIST recommended processes for secure software development, which are organized into four phases:
- Prep the Organization: Before embarking on any software security efforts within an organization, all its people, processes, and technologies need to be in place both organizationally and project by project.
- Software should be secure (PS), meaning all components should remain free from unauthorized access and manipulation.
- Release Software with Fewest Vulnerabilities (PW). In response to Vulnerabilities: When new software releases contain vulnerabilities, identify them quickly and take appropriate actions in response to them, fixing existing issues while mitigating future ones.
Practice: Briefly explain and identify a practice as well as explain why its beneficial.
- A task is defined as any individual action (or series of actions) needed to fulfill an activity within an activity or practice.
- Implementations may take the form of creating a scenario that could serve as a demonstration.
- Referral: Document that details secure development practices applied to specific tasks.
- These sections will offer an in-depth explanation of NISTs four processes for developing secure software.
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Preparing the Organization: Tasks and Examples

First and foremost, your company must clearly establish its software development security needs both internally (e.g., Policies, Risk Management Strategies) and externally (e.g., Laws, Regulations).
Teams receive dedicated training for their roles before speeding up SDLC by installing security checks to verify software is compliant with organizational standards.
Tasks associated with security include the identification, communication, and maintenance of all requirements.
Training regimes, management support systems, and tools must also be selected before setting benchmarks to demonstrate the attainment of standards of protection.
Examples include:
- Developers need to know the specifics of coding and architecture.
- At least annually, and especially following incidents, review security standards.
- Assigning related roles, implementing frequent evaluations, and preparing to update any role changes as they occur
- Automating the toolchain management process by defining categories and tools and specifying each.
- Create an audit trail for all actions related to secure development.
- Identification of key performance indicators using an automated feedback toolchain, reviewing and documenting evidence management for all security checks to support standards
Useful Practices and Tasks to Protect Software

Preserving and safeguarding code integrity before its release to end users is of utmost importance. The process for doing this includes safeguarding against unintended access, checking the integrity of software before release, and protecting it post-release.
Our primary aim is to implement code storage using the principle of least privilege so that only authorized personnel have access.
Each customer receives a copy with all components listed and information on integrity checks.
How to Produce Secure Software: Tasks, Practices, and Examples
This process involves many actors. Software should first be designed and tested against security standards; third parties are then assessed on whether their compliance meets requirements; developers then use best security practices when writing code and configuring build processes to increase product security; the code itself is reviewed, analyzed and then manually and automatically tested to identify vulnerabilities as well as confirm compliance; finally, software defaults can be configured for immediate protection with trusted components reusing in production if applicable;
Specific key tasks involve compiling a list of trusted components, conducting risk analyses using threat models, reviewing security requirements from external sources and communicating them to third parties for verification, as well as using secure coding practices with industry-leading tools for secure code review or code analyzing purposes.
Furthermore, vulnerability tests need to be designed and executed on components, with any issues found being corrected as soon as they emerge.
Responding to Vulnerabilities: Tasks, Practices, and Examples

Professional security analysts do not simply detect vulnerabilities; their role also encompasses remediation.
Once vulnerabilities have been discovered, priority should be given to prioritizing and correcting them quickly in order to reduce the threat actors window of opportunity and gather intelligence on future prevention measures. After vulnerabilities have been mitigated, its essential to identify their root cause to ensure future mitigation doesnt reoccur.
This final phase requires collecting information about customers and testing code to detect any unknown bugs; creating and implementing plans and processes for rapid response, mitigation, and vulnerability management; creating action plans to address vulnerabilities identified; discovering their root causes so as to better prevent future attacks; as well as discovering plans for long-term prevention of vulnerabilities identified during this process.
Best Software Security Practices
Developing secure software in todays dynamic threat landscape can be daunting, yet its importance has never been higher.
More software attacks have made headlines than ever, prompting us to compile a top ten list of practices designed to assist developers in building more secure software. Below we present these key software development security best practices as a starting point:
Consider Security at the Start
Plan how you will implement security in every stage of SDLC before starting development, automating testing and monitoring vulnerabilities right from the beginning, and building security into the culture of both code and company.
Establish a Secure Software Development Policy
The following will serve as an outline to prepare your team, technology, and processes for secure software development.
A formal policy defines specific guidelines for incorporating security at each stage of SDLC implementation as well as roles and governing rules designed to reduce vulnerability risks in software development projects.
Implement a Secure Software Development Framework
The NIST SSDF framework provides true approaches to help your team adhere to best software practises, making your development teams work easier while answering critical questions like "What should we do next?" Having such assistance at their disposal might be extremely beneficial to all new developers.
Software Security can be Improved by Following Best Practices
Once defined, train all developers on how to code in accordance with them using secure coding techniques. Likewise, ensure all third-party providers understand your security requirements and demonstrate they comply - any loophole could allow hackers access.
Code Integrity Protection
To avoid any possibility of tampering, store all code in a secure repository that only authorized personnel have access to.
In order to preserve its integrity, restrict contact with it as much as possible while monitoring changes closely as well as overseeing signing processes.
Supporting Information Security Initiatives
People frequently fail to complete the tasks assigned to them, which presents a serious obstacle to maintaining security.
Human errors often stemming from failed tasks are at the core of many security problems, so security professionals need platforms that enable them to outline requirements, assign tasks, and track whether these were completed on schedule.
The Company system was designed as an easy management and accountability solution that will assist security and compliance professionals.
Youll quickly realize its worth for creating top-of-the-line privacy frameworks.
Your compliance/security tasks can now be easily completed with less effort if they havent already. Your tools and systems have already been configured to automatically collect proof that reviews were performed as scheduled and configurations correct, giving compliance managers more time for more strategic tasks such as evaluating specific controls instead of manually gathering evidence.
Security in Your Development Environment
Sometimes there can be tension between usability and security when it comes to end-user devices or environments that support software development.
This issue becomes particularly acute with respect to end-user devices and environments supporting the development of software products.
Secure and Flexible
Securing your development environment doesnt involve restricting developer work; rather, understanding risks within it and applying appropriate technical controls is whats key in order to be able to verify and trust legitimate use.
Operations and development can often become confusingly blurry. When products and services are delivered via code, software configuration changes, and modifications often help with maintenance and operational tasks - often making the same person both the developer and manager for one service.
Securing your Security
There are several steps you can take to protect your environment from an attack and secure it.
- Theft of sensitive information
- Embedding malicious code into your project without knowing
- A compromised device is used as a proxy for further attacks on your pipelines of build, deployment, and production.
- Understanding how sensitive applications function is the first step to planning an attack
Securing Flexibility in a System

Developers often require root or administrative permissions to do their jobs effectively.
This flexibility may have a greater impact on the user if their device is compromised by malware. This can be done in many ways, such as spear-phishing or drive-by downloading.
You can reduce the risks by taking these measures:
- Business and Development Functions Separate
- Email and document management services provide businesses with essential and often valuable customer data, which a malicious attacker could misuse against you and them. By isolating development environments from other functions logically, attackers will find it harder to turn in other directions during attacks against these functions.
- Separating devices without physical ones is possible. A user can simply browse from an enclosed protected environment to a local or remote virtual machine where development tasks may be accomplished in an agile and flexible environment.
- Consider your development environment compromised.
- An attacker who successfully gains entry to your developer environment would enjoy all the same permissions and access levels that the original developer did; to mitigate against this threat, consider incorporating additional controls in your environment for developers.
- Multi-factor authentication will make it more challenging for an attacker to gain entry and steal credentials, access tokens, or keys from compromised devices. As part of your deployment pipeline process, automated security testing, as well as multiple-person reviews, should help detect and avoid further impactful instances.
- Verify the actions of your developers before you trust them
- Humans may not be the weakest link, but they do form their core. Individuals with an understanding of security may prove more successful at detecting attacks and thwarting them than technical controls alone.
- Individuals with an excellent understanding of security who strive to adhere to the law can be relied upon. You can verify this fact through auditing and monitoring controls such as monitoring network activities for suspicious activities, patch checks, and verifying whether users install the software.
Software Development Trends Today

The software development process is always evolving thanks to the many changes in SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle).
- Technological landscapes are constantly evolving
- Consumer and Business Demands
- Market trends
Technology that was popular today could quickly be obsolete. Many significant changes are occurring in the software development cycle.
This post will discuss some software trends that are likely to have an impact on the IT industry.
Low-code & No-code Software Development

Although this might sound contradictory, coding forms the cornerstone of software development.
Software development platform remains complex and challenging, with teams under constant pressure to deliver software faster.
Finding new talent to join such environments has proven challenging.
Low-code and no-code software products have quickly gained prominence within software development circles due to these reasons.
Low-code/no-code platforms and tools do not replace the actual programming of software coding; rather, they must be created by someone.
More people have recognized their advantages.
No-code and low-code solutions can complement existing software delivery pipelines and development pipelines by providing users with tools for creating, managing, and deploying portions of software solutions on their own.
They also reduce barriers to entering software development while simultaneously drawing in talented newcomers to this field of technology development.
Big Data Security

Data is at the core of every successful business.
Software development companies have quickly adjusted to accommodate big datas collection, storage, and analysis requirements, from data collection through storage to analysis.
Today data security remains top of mind for companies as regulators, users, and government keep an eye on this sector of the economy.
By necessity, this requirement has led to the incorporation of security as an integral component in software development projects dealing with data.
Security must be integrated from day one of any development that deals with this information, and big data security is becoming an ever-increasing trend as more "data-as-a-service" platforms and Internet threats emerge.
DevSecOps

DevOps has changed the face of software development. As it entails greater agility, faster release cycles, and an overall quality increase compared to its counterpart, DevOps may increase software threats as more software development takes place on cloud services such as Azure.
These factors led to security teams not being able to keep pace with rapid software development.
DevSecOps, on the other hand, integrates security into every facet of the software development process, with security teams vigilantly watching DevOps processes as more security becomes incorporated into it and vice versa; SDLC becomes safer as more teams utilize DevSecOps, expected to replace DevOps over the coming years in most development teams standard operating procedures.
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Artificial Intelligence is Becoming More Important

AI has quickly become an integral component of software products and solutions, from basic computer vision applications to predictive analytics at enterprise scale.
Artificial Intelligence has experienced incredible advancements over recent years and shows no sign of stopping its progress anytime soon.
AI could eventually reach human levels of intelligence within ten years.
AI and neural networks paired with software designed for machine learning are changing static logic into self-learning entities that will drastically transform software production; its creation will shift away from rigid, static logic towards algorithms capable of learning user requirements in order to meet them as time progresses.
Mixed Reality, Virtual, and Augmented Reality

AR, VR, and MR may appear stagnant over the past several years; however, their advancement is ever-present due to consumer demand for new experiences and ways of interrelating with our worlds.
They will undoubtedly change how we perceive things.
Augmented Reality
AR is an exciting technology with vast applications, from eCommerce and changing consumer shopping habits to improving our lives through interactive learning environments and changing user shopping patterns.
With digital technologies becoming ever more ubiquitous, Augmented Reality could quickly become an indispensable element of user experiences, prompting software-specific development dedicated to this field.
AR has already gained significant traction thanks to tools such as Apple ARCore and Google ARKit that support it.
Virtual Reality
We instantly associate VR with gaming. However, its real power lies in providing users with an unparalleled user experience by immersing them into virtual worlds - you could quickly travel from planet to planet or explore its depths within seconds!
People often forget that virtual reality (VR) can be applied beyond gaming; its applications range from entertainment and education.
Students, for instance, may watch VR films while getting first-hand virtual experience through hands-on activities in class. Also, two new technologies will make developing software for virtual reality easier than ever before.
Amazon Sumerian, Google VR, and other dedicated tools are readily available at an economical cost for Virtual Reality hardware costs.
Mixed Reality
MR bridges reality with digital, creating an intersection between virtual reality (VR) and our physical environments.
Mixed reality technology can transform how we engage with the physical spaces around us.
Microsoft, through the Hololens and other mixed reality (MR) products, has laid the groundwork for mixed reality to become the next great trend.
Apps for Progressive Web Sites
With their growing popularity, separate mobile and web apps may no longer need to be developed and maintained separately.
Progressive Web Apps
Progressive Web Apps allow developers to build mobile versions of web applications using web languages like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML - while providing users with an experience similar to that found within native apps.
PIA apps can be accessed using any mobile browser, providing access through mobile browsers while offering native app-like experiences.
What is the best way to use this feature?
- It can be a great option for small development teams that want to reach a larger mobile devices
- itf can help you jumpstart your first IT compliance program, pass the audit, and maintain continuous compliance -- so you can provide assurances to customers, maintain trusted business relationships, and establish a security baseline that supports your growth plan.
- audience without having to dedicate resources to developing mobile applications.
- CERT CERT Coding Standards supports commonly used programming languages such as C, C++, and Java.
- This option allows enterprises to offer a user experience that is near-native across multiple platforms by using a web-based, streamlined PIA.
IoT Growth
Internet of Things (IoT) technologies continue to expand at an astounding rate, powering industries globally, from home appliances and medical equipment all the way through home security systems and more.
IoT-specific software continues to develop at an astounding rate while cloud technologies will increasingly play a part in this emerging space; most IoT devices rely on it from their inception through to lifecycle completion.
For UI/UX, There is a Greater Emphasis
User interfaces and experiences have come under increased focus with increased dependence on digital services.
Traditional software development was driven mainly by the backend logic of applications and services without much focus being paid to user experience (UI/UX).
Now, however, due to an increase in demand for novel user-centric experiences, UI/UX may even play a bigger part than ever in application logic implementation.
Serverless Computing
Serverless Computing Cloud services have forever altered how software is delivered and deployed, but serverless computing offers another paradigm: no infrastructure management is needed! Software developers can now develop solutions designed to directly deploy into serverless environments; some even support container deployments that support this trend!
Change will take place, leading to faster development cycles and quicker creation cycles for software products.
Blockchain Technology
Blockchain has revolutionized how transactions are recorded. First seen as an uncentralized ledger used with digital currencies, blockchain quickly spread throughout the financial sector as an uncentral ledger storing transactions and other kinds of data securely.
Blockchain technology is now being used in many other industries, including:
- Publication
- Healthcare
- Etc.
Of course, more sectors mean that there will be more software using blockchain. Amazons Managed Blockchain allows software developers to leverage the power of cloud computing in order to develop blockchain-based solutions.
Cloud-based CI/CD

The basis of any SDLC is Continuous Native Integration and Delivery. Cloud-based CI/CD is quickly becoming popular and has even led to the creation of complete software development pipelines.
Managed CI/CD will continue to grow in popularity, as it will reduce management overheads and lead to significant cost savings.
Cloud-based tools for CI/CD will become more prevalent in the coming years. These cloud-based applications include:
- Repository of code
- Tools for planning and management
- Test Suites
- Etc.
Multi-cloud Architectures

Most organizations rely on one provider of cloud services for running applications; multi-cloud architectures have grown increasingly popular as they allow developers to choose multiple cloud providers according to their individual requirements and mix and match them as necessary.
HashiCorp will dominate this market by providing tools that facilitate managing infrastructure, apps, and networks across multiple cloud providers.
These changes will drive software development towards becoming single platform-independent.
Modern Programming Languages on the Rise Software development remains dominated by programming languages like Java and Python; however, modern programming languages such as those created to compete against them offer developers superior experiences by offering solutions for existing issues.
These cutting-edge languages give developers more choices.
Rust and TypeScript will become mainstream languages similar to C/C++ and Java for most applications; Kotlin already replaces Java on mobile platforms, while TypeScript has become the go-to choice in Vue.js and similar projects.
Cloud-native App Development
By 2020, most software will rely heavily on cloud services; cloud native app development will become common practice and become the norm in the near future.
As more software tools and services migrate into the cloud, it has become natural to assess whether they should also be managed and deployed there.
This trend has already started occurring but will only intensify further as more applications migrate towards cloud native architectures.
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Conclusion of Article
Software development increasingly relies on security risk and compliance measures for success, which means creating an environment that fosters compliant development can protect code against any potentially malicious actors while meeting all regulations relevant to your project - even though this requires extra work up front, it is worth ensuring your code remains safe from threats for its entire lifetime.