SecureDevelopmentPhilosophy

Testing alone

1. 1

   Scanners, tools and pentests are reactive — they often find flaws only once the app is in production.

2. 2

   Fixing after deployment is too late. Security has to start on the left: a secure culture across design, development and operations.

3. 3

   Security testing itself is still maturing — it can't catch everything.

DevOps or DevSecOps?

Demystify our DevSecOps approach

1. 1Security goals integrated into requirements

   Security risks become concrete requirements in the project plan — e.g. via the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) — and are refined and tested throughout development.

   • Security trades off against usability, cost and time-to-market: encryption at rest adds hardware cost; strict passwords hurt ease of use.
   • Developers, designers, security experts and business negotiate the balance — so security stays a priority to the end.
2. 2Risk assessment and profiles

   Risks to your assets are identified, rated (qualitatively or quantitatively), prioritized and profiled, then managed through a mitigation plan with ongoing monitoring.

   • People are a major risk factor: strong safeguards fail if staff are untrained or careless with passwords.
   • So assessments weigh human factors alongside technical ones — and training is part of mitigation.
3. 3Secure architecture risk analysis

   SARA evaluates the system's architecture — threats, vulnerabilities, priorities, mitigations — early, while fixes are cheap.

   • Attack trees break an attack into steps to expose weak points and countermeasures.
   • Automated tools speed it up and cut human error, but always alongside expert review.
   • Ongoing: re-run whenever threats or the architecture change.
4. 4Secure third-party / open-source components selected

   Every third-party and open-source component is evaluated for security risk before use, with a plan to mitigate what's found.

   • Software composition analysis (SCA) tools flag known vulnerabilities and licensing issues automatically.
   • Open source cuts cost and adds flexibility, but is risky unless vetted.
   • Ongoing: re-evaluate as components and threats change, to stay secure and compliant.
5. 5Secure coding adherence

   Secure coding standards are set, taught to developers, enforced in code review and monitored over time.

   • Static analysis catches vulnerabilities and standard violations early — some tools even suggest fixes.
   • Regular training matters as much as tools: developers are the ones who apply the standards.

   Frameworks we use

   OWASP ASVS

   Security requirements for web apps, by assurance level.

   CWE

   Catalogue of common software weaknesses and mitigations.

   NIST SP 800-53

   US federal security controls and guidelines.

   BSIMM

   Maturity model for software security practices.

   PCI DSS

   Security standard for card payment transactions.

6. 6SAST / IAST tools integrated to proactively identify flaws

   SAST scans source code; IAST tests the running app in real time. Developers fix what they report — before release.

   • Custom rules per language, framework or industry standard raise accuracy and cut false positives.
   • ML/AI increasingly improves detection.
   • Tools have limits — we pair them with manual code review and other testing.
7. 7Dynamic testing, attacks & penetration

   The running application is attacked on purpose — penetration tests, fuzzing, vulnerability scans — and the weaknesses found are fixed.

   • Inputs are fed to the live software and outputs checked against expected results.
   • Done regularly and early, it catches issues before customers do — cutting the risk of costly failures.
8. 8Secure configuration standards applied

   Infrastructure security controls are chosen, configured, tested and kept up to date against unauthorized access, theft and damage.

   • Hardening: fewer features, services and protocols means a smaller attack surface.
   • Least privilege: users and processes get only the access they need.
   • Tighter isn't always better — security is balanced against performance and usability.
9. 9Secure compliance threshold assessed

   Security controls are checked against the standards that apply to you; gaps are remediated and compliance is monitored and reported continuously.

   • Standards depend on industry and region — e.g. HIPAA in healthcare, PCI DSS or SOX in finance.
   • Assessments often surface unknown vulnerabilities — fixable now, before attackers find them.
   • Standards evolve, so compliance is never a one-off.
10. 10Continuous monitoring

    Applications, systems and networks are watched around the clock for threats, vulnerabilities and anomalies — with incidents handled, documented and reported.

    • ML/AI spots patterns in data volumes no analyst could review.
    • Shifts security from reactive to proactive.
    • Supports HIPAA, PCI DSS and NIST requirements and shows where to invest next.
11. 11Advanced threat analytics

    Advanced and persistent threats are detected, analyzed and responded to with ML/AI — from data collection to post-incident review.

    • Goes beyond firewalls and antivirus, which sophisticated attackers bypass.
    • Covers insider threats as well as external ones.
    • Needs skilled people, the right tools — and sharing threat intelligence across the industry.