Navigating the blueprints of secure coding: A construction analogy
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Secure Code Warrior is here for your organization to help you secure code across the entire software development lifecycle and create a culture in which cybersecurity is top of mind. Whether you’re an AppSec Manager, Developer, CISO, or anyone involved in security, we can help your organization reduce risks associated with insecure code.
Book a demo
Dave Karp is the VP of Solution Engineering and Technical Alliances at Secure Code Warrior.
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
Click on the link below and download the PDF of this resource.
Secure Code Warrior is here for your organization to help you secure code across the entire software development lifecycle and create a culture in which cybersecurity is top of mind. Whether you’re an AppSec Manager, Developer, CISO, or anyone involved in security, we can help your organization reduce risks associated with insecure code.
View reportBook a demo
Dave Karp is the VP of Solution Engineering and Technical Alliances at Secure Code Warrior.
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
Table of contents
Secure Code Warrior is here for your organization to help you secure code across the entire software development lifecycle and create a culture in which cybersecurity is top of mind. Whether you’re an AppSec Manager, Developer, CISO, or anyone involved in security, we can help your organization reduce risks associated with insecure code.
Book a demoDownloadResources to get you started
Benchmarking Security Skills: Streamlining Secure-by-Design in the Enterprise
The Secure-by-Design movement is the future of secure software development. Learn about the key elements companies need to keep in mind when they think about a Secure-by-Design initiative.
DigitalOcean Decreases Security Debt with Secure Code Warrior
DigitalOcean's use of Secure Code Warrior training has significantly reduced security debt, allowing teams to focus more on innovation and productivity. The improved security has strengthened their product quality and competitive edge. Looking ahead, the SCW Trust Score will help them further enhance security practices and continue driving innovation.
Resources to get you started
Trust Score Reveals the Value of Secure-by-Design Upskilling Initiatives
Our research has shown that secure code training works. Trust Score, using an algorithm drawing on more than 20 million learning data points from work by more than 250,000 learners at over 600 organizations, reveals its effectiveness in driving down vulnerabilities and how to make the initiative even more effective.
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Reactive Versus Preventive Security: Prevention Is a Better Cure
The idea of bringing preventive security to legacy code and systems at the same time as newer applications can seem daunting, but a Secure-by-Design approach, enforced by upskilling developers, can apply security best practices to those systems. It’s the best chance many organizations have of improving their security postures.
The Benefits of Benchmarking Security Skills for Developers
The growing focus on secure code and Secure-by-Design principles requires developers to be trained in cybersecurity from the start of the SDLC, with tools like Secure Code Warrior’s Trust Score helping measure and improve their progress.
Driving Meaningful Success for Enterprise Secure-by-Design Initiatives
Our latest research paper, Benchmarking Security Skills: Streamlining Secure-by-Design in the Enterprise is the result of deep analysis of real Secure-by-Design initiatives at the enterprise level, and deriving best practice approaches based on data-driven findings.
Developer-driven coding.
Securely.
Contact us today and make software security an intrinsic part of your development process.
