Creating a Secure Application Security Program

Initially, organizations often begin their application security program by testing their applications after the software is developed. This is because most organizations believe that security elements are already embedded in the software development lifecycle and therefore, applications require only regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. However, truth be told, application security includes everything mentioned above and much more. It is also essential that organizations understand that they have a lot to implement before their application can avoid any security issues.

Creating a More Practical Application Security Program

1. Document an application security program
   For an application security program to flourish, it is crucial that the standards are defined and documented. It is good that your security is mapped to a benchmark but if you have no rules laid out, your long-term security motive will not be served. Define your business requirements in terms of threats, gaps, weaknesses, risks, and resiliency. Your security standards should address all areas. Beyond this, define a set of goals coherent to the team for your long-term sights.
2. Secure development policies
   Drafting initial policies for secure development and deployment is a great beginning to create a platform for a secure application. The essential policies are –Secure development training – Policies define who should be trained, what course is required, and how the deployment of training is tracked.
   Secure tools requirement – Define the type of tools required and follow-up on the results produced. Define the in-house tool requirement and the process to procure them.
   Deployment gates – Security should not be a gatekeeper but should be a policy explaining a formal sign off before deployment happens.It is good to start with a few listed impactful policies and focus on implementing them correctly and consider having a large number of policies for the entire team to follow.
3. Identify expected adversaries and primary risks
   Like threat modeling, an application security program should also have a model defined where the risks that the organization should be concerned about are listed. Categorize the expected adversaries to overcome the risks –
   • • Regulatory and legal risks
       • Does your organization have regulations that the application must meet?
       • When non-compliant with any regulations, what penalties should the organization be prepared to pay?
       • Do security requirements form part of customer contracts?
     • Reputational risks
       • To what extent would a data breach impact business in the short term and long term?
       • Would a breach result in further exposure?
       • Is privacy the core feature, as explained to the customers, and how far do you adhere to it?
     • Expected adversary risks
       • • What type of adversaries are prone to target your applications?
         • What type of non-targeted potential attacks does the application witness?
         • Is the application a general target of motivated criminals?
         • Are you likely to have industrial espionage?
       • • Do you warrant nation-state interest?

   By spending quality time researching the industry, understanding regulations and contracts, will put you in a better position to access risks and prepare for adversities. When we analyze the applications, prioritizing them and threat modeling programs, the risk factor becomes minimal.

4. Application security metrics
   Besides a security strategy, it is also crucial to have defined statistics to measure security. The metrics should support individuals required to secure the application and to identify gaps in your application development process.
   • Metrics defined during initial app sec program rollout
     Number of people trained from the total number of people working in the team
     • The number of applications using one automated security tool at the minimum.
     • Percentage of people following SDL policies
   • Metrics defined for the intermediate phase
     During the intermediate phase, the tools are available for the team to use.
     • The number of open vulnerabilities by severity
     • The response of automated scanning, concerning changes in code.
     • Creating new security bugs regularly and learning to fix them immediately?
   • Metrics defined when you reach maturityZ
     Optimization and improvement must be done after security is integrated throughout the development process.
     • Decide on mean time to remediation
     • Metrics for defect density to know the number of bugs per thousand lines of code. The average industry defects per thousand lines of code are 15 and to be bug-free, the defect rate should be one for every thousand and not more.
     • These metrics may vary depending on the goal. In large organizations, it is more likely to maintain teams that are on different paradigms. The metrics must be tailored according to where the team is now; otherwise, your security will be at stake.
5. Remember: Software won’t secure itself
   To conclude, the vital components like the discipline of the security team including developers, security analysts, and project managers define the security of your software. The software won’t be able to secure itself nor will it remain secure without continuous efforts. To stay away from making headlines and to remain in the confidence of your customers, take action right now.

Do you want to be an Application Security Developer?

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