Ship quality code faster, with confidence: the transformative power of secure coding practices.
According to an IBM study, it is thirty times more expensive to fix vulnerabilities post-release compared to finding and fixing them initially. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that forward-looking CIOs are implementing secure coding practices. This means training and equipping developers to write code that is more secure from the beginning– making them their organization’s ‘first line of defense’. To measure the actual impacts of this trend, Secure Code Warrior teamed up with Evans Data Corp* and commissioned a recent study on developers’ attitudes towards secure coding, secure code practices, and security operations. This research reveals that implementing secure code practices is trans-formative for companies on several different fronts. Download your copy of the whitepaper here.
Secure Coding with more confidence and mindfulness
Without a doubt, implementing secure coding practices raises the security awareness of developers in ways that benefit their employers. Our study reveals that 55% of developers say that good training has increased their confidence in their coding techniques, and 53% said that good training has allowed them to be more careful when debugging and testing their own code. An equal 53% believe they have become more mindful of security when writing code.
What does this tell us? It tells us that with a little bit of upskilling, developers can transform into your first line of defense.
Smarter tool selection + increased release velocity
When we asked managers about the impacts of secure code training, their perspectives reflected their managerial responsibilities. 43% of managers agreed that secure code training has helped their organizations become more careful when debugging and testing their code. 47% revealed that good training has allowed them to be more selective with tooling choices that provide more security. But perhaps most importantly, 44% indicated that secure code training and techniques have helped save time and speed up software releases – a substantial advantage when speed to market is everything.
Enhanced productivity across the board
When we asked developers how secure coding has helped productivity, over half felt it had helped increase both coding and app design quality.
63% said it reduces rework by preventing recurring vulnerabilities. 70% said it helped eliminate errors that lead to rework or patches. 56% claim that it has improved productivity in Debug and Testing. We can see the transformation underway at multiple stages of the software development life-cycle.
Team dynamics and code quality
Secure code practices also have an impact on team dynamics. While individually, developers learn to code more securely, their code does not exist within a vacuum. Their code is often contingent on the work of others and vice versa. Implementing secure coding practices causes developers to share and seek out secure coding knowledge, driving better communication amongst developers, developers and management, and the development team and their stakeholders.
- 60% of developers surveyed believe that employing secure code practices has increased their communication with other developers
- 45% say that contact with management has increased.
These sentiments are echoed by managers, albeit from a different perspective. 62% of managers surveyed claim that secure code practices require them to spend more time managing people and help increase the velocity of code releases.
For organizations that implement secure code practices, the increase in communication has a trans-formative impact on team dynamics, positively impacting code quality and speed to market.
Transforming from reactive to preventive
Finally, secure code impacts the way developers and dev managers apply security measures and their accompanying metrics.
Today, 81% of organizations still rely on reactive metrics such as defect counts and scanner metrics to determine security quality.
But these reactive activities are increasingly supplemented by or giving way to proactive or preventative metrics. 67% of organizations now measure developer awareness of OWASP Top 10 as a metric for security readiness. Other proactive metrics in increasing use include:
- Measuring developer competency around application security
- Use of pre-approved code
- Compliance with regulatory requirements.
90% of developers now pay attention to these preventative measures. But while awareness and implementation of secure coding practice are growing, there's still some way to go to realize its full potential.
Where to go from here?
As champions of change in secure coding, Secure Code Warrior takes a human-led approach to help you transform your developers into your first line of defense – and your overall security approach from reactive to proactive. Our proven learning platform delivers contextual, hands-on education in 52 language:framework-specific categories, with challenges that mimic those that developers face in the real world. We know from deep experience that developers prefer the learn-by-doing method to the struggle of theory-based static learning. If you’d like to see the trans-formative impact this can have on your teams and their ability to ship quality code with confidence, book a demo now.
*Shifting from reaction to prevention: The changing face of application security. Secure Code Warrior and Evans Data Corp. 2020
1. IBM Software Group; Minimizing Code Defects to Improve Software Quality and Lower Development Cost - https://docplayer.net/11413245-Minimizing-code-defects-to-improve-software-quality-and-lower-development-costs.html

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According to an IBM study, it is thirty times more expensive to fix vulnerabilities post-release compared to finding and fixing them initially. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that forward-looking CIOs are implementing secure coding practices. This means training and equipping developers to write code that is more secure from the beginning– making them their organization’s ‘first line of defense’.
Secure Code Warrior makes secure coding a positive and engaging experience for developers as they increase their skills. We guide each coder along their own preferred learning pathway, so that security-skilled developers become the everyday superheroes of our connected world.

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 demoSecure Code Warrior makes secure coding a positive and engaging experience for developers as they increase their skills. We guide each coder along their own preferred learning pathway, so that security-skilled developers become the everyday superheroes of our connected world.
This article was written by Secure Code Warrior's team of industry experts, committed to empowering developers with the knowledge and skills to build secure software from the start. Drawing on deep expertise in secure coding practices, industry trends, and real-world insights.

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According to an IBM study, it is thirty times more expensive to fix vulnerabilities post-release compared to finding and fixing them initially. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that forward-looking CIOs are implementing secure coding practices. This means training and equipping developers to write code that is more secure from the beginning– making them their organization’s ‘first line of defense’. To measure the actual impacts of this trend, Secure Code Warrior teamed up with Evans Data Corp* and commissioned a recent study on developers’ attitudes towards secure coding, secure code practices, and security operations. This research reveals that implementing secure code practices is trans-formative for companies on several different fronts. Download your copy of the whitepaper here.
Secure Coding with more confidence and mindfulness
Without a doubt, implementing secure coding practices raises the security awareness of developers in ways that benefit their employers. Our study reveals that 55% of developers say that good training has increased their confidence in their coding techniques, and 53% said that good training has allowed them to be more careful when debugging and testing their own code. An equal 53% believe they have become more mindful of security when writing code.
What does this tell us? It tells us that with a little bit of upskilling, developers can transform into your first line of defense.
Smarter tool selection + increased release velocity
When we asked managers about the impacts of secure code training, their perspectives reflected their managerial responsibilities. 43% of managers agreed that secure code training has helped their organizations become more careful when debugging and testing their code. 47% revealed that good training has allowed them to be more selective with tooling choices that provide more security. But perhaps most importantly, 44% indicated that secure code training and techniques have helped save time and speed up software releases – a substantial advantage when speed to market is everything.
Enhanced productivity across the board
When we asked developers how secure coding has helped productivity, over half felt it had helped increase both coding and app design quality.
63% said it reduces rework by preventing recurring vulnerabilities. 70% said it helped eliminate errors that lead to rework or patches. 56% claim that it has improved productivity in Debug and Testing. We can see the transformation underway at multiple stages of the software development life-cycle.
Team dynamics and code quality
Secure code practices also have an impact on team dynamics. While individually, developers learn to code more securely, their code does not exist within a vacuum. Their code is often contingent on the work of others and vice versa. Implementing secure coding practices causes developers to share and seek out secure coding knowledge, driving better communication amongst developers, developers and management, and the development team and their stakeholders.
- 60% of developers surveyed believe that employing secure code practices has increased their communication with other developers
- 45% say that contact with management has increased.
These sentiments are echoed by managers, albeit from a different perspective. 62% of managers surveyed claim that secure code practices require them to spend more time managing people and help increase the velocity of code releases.
For organizations that implement secure code practices, the increase in communication has a trans-formative impact on team dynamics, positively impacting code quality and speed to market.
Transforming from reactive to preventive
Finally, secure code impacts the way developers and dev managers apply security measures and their accompanying metrics.
Today, 81% of organizations still rely on reactive metrics such as defect counts and scanner metrics to determine security quality.
But these reactive activities are increasingly supplemented by or giving way to proactive or preventative metrics. 67% of organizations now measure developer awareness of OWASP Top 10 as a metric for security readiness. Other proactive metrics in increasing use include:
- Measuring developer competency around application security
- Use of pre-approved code
- Compliance with regulatory requirements.
90% of developers now pay attention to these preventative measures. But while awareness and implementation of secure coding practice are growing, there's still some way to go to realize its full potential.
Where to go from here?
As champions of change in secure coding, Secure Code Warrior takes a human-led approach to help you transform your developers into your first line of defense – and your overall security approach from reactive to proactive. Our proven learning platform delivers contextual, hands-on education in 52 language:framework-specific categories, with challenges that mimic those that developers face in the real world. We know from deep experience that developers prefer the learn-by-doing method to the struggle of theory-based static learning. If you’d like to see the trans-formative impact this can have on your teams and their ability to ship quality code with confidence, book a demo now.
*Shifting from reaction to prevention: The changing face of application security. Secure Code Warrior and Evans Data Corp. 2020
1. IBM Software Group; Minimizing Code Defects to Improve Software Quality and Lower Development Cost - https://docplayer.net/11413245-Minimizing-code-defects-to-improve-software-quality-and-lower-development-costs.html

According to an IBM study, it is thirty times more expensive to fix vulnerabilities post-release compared to finding and fixing them initially. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that forward-looking CIOs are implementing secure coding practices. This means training and equipping developers to write code that is more secure from the beginning– making them their organization’s ‘first line of defense’. To measure the actual impacts of this trend, Secure Code Warrior teamed up with Evans Data Corp* and commissioned a recent study on developers’ attitudes towards secure coding, secure code practices, and security operations. This research reveals that implementing secure code practices is trans-formative for companies on several different fronts. Download your copy of the whitepaper here.
Secure Coding with more confidence and mindfulness
Without a doubt, implementing secure coding practices raises the security awareness of developers in ways that benefit their employers. Our study reveals that 55% of developers say that good training has increased their confidence in their coding techniques, and 53% said that good training has allowed them to be more careful when debugging and testing their own code. An equal 53% believe they have become more mindful of security when writing code.
What does this tell us? It tells us that with a little bit of upskilling, developers can transform into your first line of defense.
Smarter tool selection + increased release velocity
When we asked managers about the impacts of secure code training, their perspectives reflected their managerial responsibilities. 43% of managers agreed that secure code training has helped their organizations become more careful when debugging and testing their code. 47% revealed that good training has allowed them to be more selective with tooling choices that provide more security. But perhaps most importantly, 44% indicated that secure code training and techniques have helped save time and speed up software releases – a substantial advantage when speed to market is everything.
Enhanced productivity across the board
When we asked developers how secure coding has helped productivity, over half felt it had helped increase both coding and app design quality.
63% said it reduces rework by preventing recurring vulnerabilities. 70% said it helped eliminate errors that lead to rework or patches. 56% claim that it has improved productivity in Debug and Testing. We can see the transformation underway at multiple stages of the software development life-cycle.
Team dynamics and code quality
Secure code practices also have an impact on team dynamics. While individually, developers learn to code more securely, their code does not exist within a vacuum. Their code is often contingent on the work of others and vice versa. Implementing secure coding practices causes developers to share and seek out secure coding knowledge, driving better communication amongst developers, developers and management, and the development team and their stakeholders.
- 60% of developers surveyed believe that employing secure code practices has increased their communication with other developers
- 45% say that contact with management has increased.
These sentiments are echoed by managers, albeit from a different perspective. 62% of managers surveyed claim that secure code practices require them to spend more time managing people and help increase the velocity of code releases.
For organizations that implement secure code practices, the increase in communication has a trans-formative impact on team dynamics, positively impacting code quality and speed to market.
Transforming from reactive to preventive
Finally, secure code impacts the way developers and dev managers apply security measures and their accompanying metrics.
Today, 81% of organizations still rely on reactive metrics such as defect counts and scanner metrics to determine security quality.
But these reactive activities are increasingly supplemented by or giving way to proactive or preventative metrics. 67% of organizations now measure developer awareness of OWASP Top 10 as a metric for security readiness. Other proactive metrics in increasing use include:
- Measuring developer competency around application security
- Use of pre-approved code
- Compliance with regulatory requirements.
90% of developers now pay attention to these preventative measures. But while awareness and implementation of secure coding practice are growing, there's still some way to go to realize its full potential.
Where to go from here?
As champions of change in secure coding, Secure Code Warrior takes a human-led approach to help you transform your developers into your first line of defense – and your overall security approach from reactive to proactive. Our proven learning platform delivers contextual, hands-on education in 52 language:framework-specific categories, with challenges that mimic those that developers face in the real world. We know from deep experience that developers prefer the learn-by-doing method to the struggle of theory-based static learning. If you’d like to see the trans-formative impact this can have on your teams and their ability to ship quality code with confidence, book a demo now.
*Shifting from reaction to prevention: The changing face of application security. Secure Code Warrior and Evans Data Corp. 2020
1. IBM Software Group; Minimizing Code Defects to Improve Software Quality and Lower Development Cost - https://docplayer.net/11413245-Minimizing-code-defects-to-improve-software-quality-and-lower-development-costs.html

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 demoSecure Code Warrior makes secure coding a positive and engaging experience for developers as they increase their skills. We guide each coder along their own preferred learning pathway, so that security-skilled developers become the everyday superheroes of our connected world.
This article was written by Secure Code Warrior's team of industry experts, committed to empowering developers with the knowledge and skills to build secure software from the start. Drawing on deep expertise in secure coding practices, industry trends, and real-world insights.
According to an IBM study, it is thirty times more expensive to fix vulnerabilities post-release compared to finding and fixing them initially. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that forward-looking CIOs are implementing secure coding practices. This means training and equipping developers to write code that is more secure from the beginning– making them their organization’s ‘first line of defense’. To measure the actual impacts of this trend, Secure Code Warrior teamed up with Evans Data Corp* and commissioned a recent study on developers’ attitudes towards secure coding, secure code practices, and security operations. This research reveals that implementing secure code practices is trans-formative for companies on several different fronts. Download your copy of the whitepaper here.
Secure Coding with more confidence and mindfulness
Without a doubt, implementing secure coding practices raises the security awareness of developers in ways that benefit their employers. Our study reveals that 55% of developers say that good training has increased their confidence in their coding techniques, and 53% said that good training has allowed them to be more careful when debugging and testing their own code. An equal 53% believe they have become more mindful of security when writing code.
What does this tell us? It tells us that with a little bit of upskilling, developers can transform into your first line of defense.
Smarter tool selection + increased release velocity
When we asked managers about the impacts of secure code training, their perspectives reflected their managerial responsibilities. 43% of managers agreed that secure code training has helped their organizations become more careful when debugging and testing their code. 47% revealed that good training has allowed them to be more selective with tooling choices that provide more security. But perhaps most importantly, 44% indicated that secure code training and techniques have helped save time and speed up software releases – a substantial advantage when speed to market is everything.
Enhanced productivity across the board
When we asked developers how secure coding has helped productivity, over half felt it had helped increase both coding and app design quality.
63% said it reduces rework by preventing recurring vulnerabilities. 70% said it helped eliminate errors that lead to rework or patches. 56% claim that it has improved productivity in Debug and Testing. We can see the transformation underway at multiple stages of the software development life-cycle.
Team dynamics and code quality
Secure code practices also have an impact on team dynamics. While individually, developers learn to code more securely, their code does not exist within a vacuum. Their code is often contingent on the work of others and vice versa. Implementing secure coding practices causes developers to share and seek out secure coding knowledge, driving better communication amongst developers, developers and management, and the development team and their stakeholders.
- 60% of developers surveyed believe that employing secure code practices has increased their communication with other developers
- 45% say that contact with management has increased.
These sentiments are echoed by managers, albeit from a different perspective. 62% of managers surveyed claim that secure code practices require them to spend more time managing people and help increase the velocity of code releases.
For organizations that implement secure code practices, the increase in communication has a trans-formative impact on team dynamics, positively impacting code quality and speed to market.
Transforming from reactive to preventive
Finally, secure code impacts the way developers and dev managers apply security measures and their accompanying metrics.
Today, 81% of organizations still rely on reactive metrics such as defect counts and scanner metrics to determine security quality.
But these reactive activities are increasingly supplemented by or giving way to proactive or preventative metrics. 67% of organizations now measure developer awareness of OWASP Top 10 as a metric for security readiness. Other proactive metrics in increasing use include:
- Measuring developer competency around application security
- Use of pre-approved code
- Compliance with regulatory requirements.
90% of developers now pay attention to these preventative measures. But while awareness and implementation of secure coding practice are growing, there's still some way to go to realize its full potential.
Where to go from here?
As champions of change in secure coding, Secure Code Warrior takes a human-led approach to help you transform your developers into your first line of defense – and your overall security approach from reactive to proactive. Our proven learning platform delivers contextual, hands-on education in 52 language:framework-specific categories, with challenges that mimic those that developers face in the real world. We know from deep experience that developers prefer the learn-by-doing method to the struggle of theory-based static learning. If you’d like to see the trans-formative impact this can have on your teams and their ability to ship quality code with confidence, book a demo now.
*Shifting from reaction to prevention: The changing face of application security. Secure Code Warrior and Evans Data Corp. 2020
1. IBM Software Group; Minimizing Code Defects to Improve Software Quality and Lower Development Cost - https://docplayer.net/11413245-Minimizing-code-defects-to-improve-software-quality-and-lower-development-costs.html
Table of contents
Secure Code Warrior makes secure coding a positive and engaging experience for developers as they increase their skills. We guide each coder along their own preferred learning pathway, so that security-skilled developers become the everyday superheroes of our connected world.

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
Secure by Design: Defining Best Practices, Enabling Developers and Benchmarking Preventative Security Outcomes
In this research paper, Secure Code Warrior co-founders, Pieter Danhieux and Dr. Matias Madou, Ph.D., along with expert contributors, Chris Inglis, Former US National Cyber Director (now Strategic Advisor to Paladin Capital Group), and Devin Lynch, Senior Director, Paladin Global Institute, will reveal key findings from over twenty in-depth interviews with enterprise security leaders including CISOs, a VP of Application Security, and software security professionals.
Benchmarking Security Skills: Streamlining Secure-by-Design in the Enterprise
Finding meaningful data on the success of Secure-by-Design initiatives is notoriously difficult. CISOs are often challenged when attempting to prove the return on investment (ROI) and business value of security program activities at both the people and company levels. Not to mention, it’s particularly difficult for enterprises to gain insights into how their organizations are benchmarked against current industry standards. The President’s National Cybersecurity Strategy challenged stakeholders to “embrace security and resilience by design.” The key to making Secure-by-Design initiatives work is not only giving developers the skills to ensure secure code, but also assuring the regulators that those skills are in place. In this presentation, we share a myriad of qualitative and quantitative data, derived from multiple primary sources, including internal data points collected from over 250,000 developers, data-driven customer insights, and public studies. Leveraging this aggregation of data points, we aim to communicate a vision of the current state of Secure-by-Design initiatives across multiple verticals. The report details why this space is currently underutilized, the significant impact a successful upskilling program can have on cybersecurity risk mitigation, and the potential to eliminate categories of vulnerabilities from a codebase.
Secure code training topics & content
Our industry-leading content is always evolving to fit the ever changing software development landscape with your role in mind. Topics covering everything from AI to XQuery Injection, offered for a variety of roles from Architects and Engineers to Product Managers and QA. Get a sneak peak of what our content catalog has to offer by topic and role.
Resources to get you started
Revealed: How the Cyber Industry Defines Secure by Design
In our latest white paper, our Co-Founders, Pieter Danhieux and Dr. Matias Madou, Ph.D., sat down with over twenty enterprise security leaders, including CISOs, AppSec leaders and security professionals, to figure out the key pieces of this puzzle and uncover the reality behind the Secure by Design movement. It’s a shared ambition across the security teams, but no shared playbook.
Is Vibe Coding Going to Turn Your Codebase Into a Frat Party?
Vibe coding is like a college frat party, and AI is the centerpiece of all the festivities, the keg. It’s a lot of fun to let loose, get creative, and see where your imagination can take you, but after a few keg stands, drinking (or, using AI) in moderation is undoubtedly the safer long-term solution.