It’s not easy to create secure software, but it’s crucial to safeguard business operations and data. New Relic hosted a Twitter Space recently with Harry Kimpel of Snyk, and Frank Dornberger of movingimage to discuss the importance of software engineers developing an awareness of security that can help them develop reliable, production-ready apps.
As part of the discussion, we came up with eight tips to help developers develop a security mindset and develop more secure apps. These tips are based on that conversation and other research on how to ensure that your company’s software is as secure as possible.
Make sure that your employees are aware of how to find and close security flaws in their code. Through training, help them learn safe coding techniques and how they can protect themselves from common attacks like phishing. Set up regular, cross-functional discussions to introduce your team members to new threats and vulnerabilities. This gives your developers the chance to work with other teams who are facing the same problems.
Create a knowledge base and a documentation of the security policies applicable to software in your company. This will provide your employees with the information they need when writing code and ensure that everybody is aware of the rules.
Take into consideration the security implications of using third-party libraries or components in your applications. If they aren’t updated regularly there’s a significant chance that they have security weaknesses that could be exploited by cybercriminals. Make use of a tool that scans for dependencies, libraries and other libraries in your source code to help identify any issues.