Feb 09, 2023
by Aisha

When you leave your house, you most likely lock all of the doors and windows, and you may even use two or three locks on the doors. You might also have an alarm system, surveillance cameras, a big, gnarly dog, or a tiny, gnarly dog. When you leave your house, lock the door to secure it; similarly, an impenetrable cyber security solution needs to safeguard your company's network and computers. 

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is the practice of preventing, detecting, and responding to cyber assaults on information technology systems and networks. The method is used to protect businesses from scams like phishing, ransomware attacks, data breaches, and financial losses.

What we call "cyber security" refers to the collection of measures taken to ensure the safety of digital infrastructure and information. It's a huge and expanding industry with a wide variety of responsibilities in a world where more and more of our daily activities take place online.

What are Cyberattacks?

IBM defines a "cyberattack" as any attempt to steal, expose, modify, disable, or destroy data via unauthorized access to computer systems. Even though there are a wide variety of motivations for a cyberattack (such as cyberwarfare, cyberterrorism, and hacktivism), they can be grouped into three broad categories: criminal, political, and personal.

Criminally motivated attackers often target businesses for the purpose of stealing from them, disrupting their operations, or both. Disgruntled current or former employees are another type of personal attacker that may target a business by stealing money or sensitive information. It is possible to distinguish hacktivism, in which an attacker is motivated by a desire for public recognition for a social or political cause, from other types of cyberattacks. Two other types of cyberattacks are cyber espionage, in which one party spies on another in order to gain an unfair advantage in a competitive setting, and intellectually demanding attacks.

According to the Small Business Administration, attacks on small firms are common because of their weak security systems. The SBA talked to a lot of business owners and most of them said they were worried about their company's safety. 

Increasing importance of Cybersecurity

Being hacked poses more than just a direct risk to the personal information that businesses require. It can also destroy their connections with their customers and put them in a substantial amount of danger from a legal standpoint. The risks associated with cybercrime are only going to increase as new technologies are developed and used, such as internet-connected home security systems and vehicles that drive themselves.

So, it shouldn't be a surprise that Gartner Inc., a global research and advisory firm, thinks that spending on global security will reach $170 billion in 2022, an increase of 8% in just one year.

Associate Dean of Cybersecurity at Southern New Hampshire University, Jonathan Kamyck, said, "We're seeing a great need for cyber security practitioners" (SNHU). Businesses big and small alike are increasingly establishing an online identity. Many interactions that used to take place over the phone or face-to-face are now handled by email or teleconference, which raises a host of new problems about how best to share information.

These days, top officials in both government and business recognize the critical need to keep sensitive data secure. Companies that base their operations on maintaining tight control over client information run the risk of having their databases breached. When the credit reporting agency Equifax was hacked in 2017, the personal information of almost half of the people living in the United States was stolen. This was a very public event.

Advantages of Cybersecurity

The cyber security sector has shifted its emphasis to defensive measures to prevent hackers from gaining access to systems. It may be challenging to picture the bits and bytes that are driving these initiatives, but the consequences are much easier to consider. Websites are constantly being hit with denial-of-service attacks, which would make it very hard to use a lot of them if cyber security experts weren't always working on them. 

The concept of Software Development Security

According to contemporary ideas about information technology, the processes of software development and information security are inextricably linked. Every stage of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), for example, must be designed to contain security-related components. The results of these efforts are high-quality information technology solutions that are devoid of data-threatening bugs, code loopholes, and software design mistakes, and a coordinated network of data security procedures that protect all of the information used during the whole project cycle.

Security in Software Development

Design is only one aspect of software development. There is a new breed of cyber security software developers who make it their business to make sure big businesses aren't the target of a high-profile attack or data breach. They must also fix any issues they discover as they go along through debugging and correction.

The majority of security flaws in software can be accessed by modifying its source code. From the very beginning of the development process, developers of security software take precautions by adhering to safe coding standards such as those established by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and the Security Engineering Institute (SEI Cert). By patching all security holes in their software and adhering to industry standards, organizations may not only lessen the impact of cyberattacks but also prevent further attacks from occurring.

The significance of security in Software Development

Developers of security software must maintain meticulous attention to detail throughout the entirety of the software development cycle. Because it is their job to set up and keep security in the organization, you will often find them in charge of the software development process from the first brainstorming session to the last round of testing.

The following advantages will accrue to your organization if you use a trustworthy SDLC:

  • Errors in the design are fixed before they are implemented in the program.
  • Reduced expenses as a result of the early identification and correction of vulnerabilities in the security system.
  • Stakeholders will understand how important it is to invest in secure processes and won't put pressure on software developers to release software faster at the cost of its safety.

Best practices to ensure Software Security

 

1. Make software security a top priority from the get-go

Requirements are the foundation of security, so it's important to consider potential flaws at every step of the software development process. As a result, security must be taken into account whenever there is a need for a change or an addition of features.

One can employ a safe software development lifecycle (SDLC) to build reliable applications. At every point in time, potential security risks are evaluated to provide the highest level of safety for the application. In addition, it moves methodically through each stage to check that proper controls are set up at each and every one.

2. Hold security awareness sessions

The developers of the organization need to know the most typical forms of assault in the field of software development and how to defend themselves against them. Every security awareness course worth its salt will cover the most common security vulnerabilities in software. Hacking techniques and methods used by cybercriminals should also be covered.

3. Make use of code reviews to look for security flaws

Developers can avoid typical problems with the use of code reviews, which help them find and solve security flaws. Incorporating safe practices into the design process is standard practice in the software industry. Take a defensive stance when coding so that you can produce the minimum viable amount of code. You should also be writing unit tests to ensure that your code is working properly in every possible scenario.

The security of your code should be reassessed after every modification. Furthermore, it is crucial to examine security necessities to guarantee that secure coding techniques are utilized all through development.

4. Make use of tools for static analysis of code

Mistakes in security can be difficult to spot, even for seasoned programmers. Tools for static code analysis can help close the knowledge gap, locate security flaws, and streamline the code review process.

One of the best ways to discover security flaws in your software is to use static code analysis tools prior to deployment. It can be added to the pipeline so that these tests are run on every new build as soon as it is finished, and any problems are flagged as soon as they are found.

5. Rely on widely used and actively maintained libraries and frameworks

When creating software, it is preferable to make use of widely used and well-maintained libraries or frameworks rather than from scratch, as these will be less likely to contain security flaws. When it comes to managing software security, using open-source components can be helpful because you have access to early issue identification and updates. The attack surface of your program can be minimized and its security improved through the use of secure software development libraries.

Before heavily relying on a library or framework, developers should always check its status. To determine whether or not this component is secure enough for their needs, they can use online tools that detail the community activity, release frequency, and other data of each project.

6. Recommendations and criteria for safe programming

Guidelines and standards for secure software development must begin with the code itself. A group of experts should establish rules and procedures for secure coding in your company after carefully examining the industry's current standards.

Better design principles inside an organization can be fostered with the support of secure coding standards, resulting in fewer vulnerabilities in the released program. Teams can impose dependable testing procedures all through the software development lifecycle to make sure they are not introducing new vulnerabilities, and a common set of rules and limits surrounding what kind of code gets created can help achieve this.

Software developers should also employ threat modeling as a method of securing their products. Using a model of potential failures, risks are located by examining individual data flows.

7. Penetration testing

In order to find vulnerabilities in your program, penetration testing can be run automatically. The best way to conduct penetration tests is to hire a team of experts in the field of software security.

These experts use the same techniques that hackers use to test the strength of your system's defenses against such assaults. The majority of systems and products used by a company should undergo some sort of penetration testing once a month. You may rest assured that any security holes will be patched up as soon as possible, before they are exploited.

8. Integrate safe software development procedures into your DevOps workflows

After you have begun putting these best practices into action, be sure to incorporate them into the procedures that make up your DevOps workflow. Because of this, the entire software development team will be able to become familiar with security needs and create software that is secure.

As a consequence of this, your team will be able to uncover potential security flaws early on in the development process rather than waiting until it is too late to do so. This is why safe DevOps processes, also called DevSecOps, are so important when it comes to making secure software from the start to the end. They help to reduce vulnerabilities and fix bugs before they affect end users.

If it becomes required, businesses may even choose to establish a bug bounty program that provides financial incentives for the discovery and reporting of vulnerabilities in the programs or services they offer. Finally, it is essential to provide regular updates on the progress that is being made inside your organization. This will make sure that employees know where the new policies came from and why they were put in place. 

Wrap up

To sum it up, writing code that is immune to attack is only part of what makes software development secure. Taking a systemic view and incorporating certain DevOps principles into your regular routine is crucial. What we mean by "safe DevOps" is security-by-design at every stage of the software development life cycle, from requirements gathering to release. In this way, security isn't treated as a separate entity and is only considered at set intervals or when a breach has occurred.

Developing safe software is an ongoing process. Therefore, as technology advances and hackers develop novel assaults against software vulnerabilities, you should continually search for ways to enhance and fortify your code.