Ten Best Practices for Secure Software Development Part 2

Best Practice #5: Know the Basic Tenets of  Software Security

When it comes to secure software for asp.net software companies in india, there are some tenets with which the SSLP must be familiar.  These basic tenets are: protection from disclosure (confidentiality); protection from alteration (integrity); protection from destruction (availability); who is making the request (authentication); what rights and privileges does the requestor have (authorization); the ability to build historical evidence (auditing); and the management of configuration, sessions, and exceptions. Knowledge of these basic tenets, and how they can be implemented in software, is of vital importance for the SSLP. 

Best Practice #6: Ensure the Protection of Sensitive Information

In addition to ensuring that the brand your customers trust is protected, it is essential that any sensitive information be protected as well for asp.net software companies india. Sensitive information refers to any information upon which the organization places a measurable value. By implication, this is information that is not in the public domain and would result in loss, damage, or even business collapse should the information be lost, stolen, corrupted, or in any way compromised. Sensitive information may be personal, health, financial, or any other information that can affect the competitive edge of your organization.

Best Practice #7: Design Software with Secure Features

The MSDN article on “Lessons Learned from Five Years of Building More Secure Software,”d under the heading “It’s not just the code,” highlights that many software security vulnerabilities are not coding issues at all but design issues.  When one is exclusively focused on finding security issues in code, that person runs the risk of missing out on entire classes of vulnerabilities. Security issues in design and semantic flaws (ones that are not syntactic or code related), such as business logic flaws, cannot be detected in code and need to be inspected by performing threat models and abuse cases modeling during the design stage of the SDLC.

Best Practice #8: Develop Software with Secure Features

Designing for security in software is futile unless you plan to act on the design and incorporate necessary secure controls during the development stage of your software development lifecycle for c#.net software companies in india. It is imperative that secure features are not ignored when design artifacts are converted into syntax constructs that a compiler or interpreter can understand.  Writing secure code is no different than writing code that is usable, reliable, or scalable.

Best Practice #9: Deploy Software with Secure Features

Most software development teams would agree that, often, software that works without any issues in development and test environments will start experiencing hiccups when deployed/ released into a more hardened production environment. Post mortem analyses in a majority of these cases reveal that the development and test environments do not properly simulate the production environment. Fundamentally, this is a configuration management issue. Changes made to the production environment should be retrofitted to the development and test environments through proper change management processes.

Best Practice #10: Educate Yourself and Others on  How to Build Secure Software

The need to design, develop, and deploy more secure software  is evident from the security incidents prevalent in the industry,  and the plethora of regulations and privacy requirements one needs to comply with .  The modus operandi of software today is the infamous release-and-patch cycle for c#.net software companies india. To combat this vicious cycle of release-and-patch, there is a need for a change – to create a culture that factors in software security from the very beginning by default. Creating a security culture can be accomplished through education. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states that education should cause a change in attitudes, which in turn will change the organizational culture. In essence, this cultural change is the realization that IT security is critical because a security failure has potentially adverse consequences for everyone and, therefore, IT security is everyone’s job. Even the most expensive security measures can be thwarted by people, and educating people about software security is of paramount importance

Conclusion

The importance of educating people and creating a culture that views software security as second nature is crucial. The newest certification from (ISC), the Certified Secure SoftwareLifecycle Professional (CSSLPCM), is a step in that direction. Covering areas that ensure security is considered throughout the entire software lifecycle, the CSSLP is created around the specific need for building security in the software lifecycle.

Software development involves various stakeholders. Those tasked to build software securely must follow certain directives. These “Ten Best Practices for a Secure Software Lifecycle Professional” when followed will ensure that the SSLP build secure, hackresilient, and compliant software. 

Courtesy: Sanika Taori