Security Best Practices

Secure SDLC Best Practices

A comprehensive guide to implementing secure software development lifecycle. Learn shift-left security, SAST, DAST, SCA, and DevSecOps automation.

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Section 1

Security Requirements & Threat Modeling

Build security in from the design phase

  • Define security requirements alongside functional requirements
  • Conduct threat modeling for new features (STRIDE, PASTA)
  • Identify sensitive data flows and protection requirements
  • Document attack surfaces and trust boundaries
  • Review architectural decisions for security implications
  • Create security user stories and acceptance criteria
  • Establish security gates for each development phase
Section 2

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

Find vulnerabilities in source code before deployment

  • Integrate SAST tools in IDE for real-time feedback
  • Run SAST scans on every pull request in CI/CD
  • Configure custom rules for organization-specific patterns
  • Prioritize findings by severity and exploitability
  • Track remediation SLAs (Critical: 24h, High: 7d)
  • Use incremental scanning for faster feedback loops
  • Tune rules to reduce false positives over time
Section 3

Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

Manage open source risks and vulnerabilities

  • Generate SBOM for all applications and dependencies
  • Scan dependencies for known CVEs continuously
  • Block critical vulnerabilities from reaching production
  • Monitor for newly disclosed vulnerabilities (zero-day)
  • Enforce license compliance policies (GPL, AGPL)
  • Track transitive dependencies and their risks
  • Automate dependency updates with security patches
Section 4

Secrets & Sensitive Data Detection

Prevent credential leaks in code and configs

  • Scan commits for secrets before push (pre-commit hooks)
  • Block PRs containing hardcoded credentials
  • Scan entire repository history for leaked secrets
  • Integrate with secret managers for secure storage
  • Rotate exposed secrets immediately upon detection
  • Monitor public repositories for leaked credentials
  • Implement entropy-based detection for unknown patterns
Section 5

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

Test running applications for vulnerabilities

  • Run DAST scans against staging/QA environments
  • Test authentication and session management
  • Scan for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities
  • Include API security testing (REST, GraphQL)
  • Implement authenticated scanning for full coverage
  • Schedule regular full scans for comprehensive testing
  • Integrate results with developer ticketing systems
Section 6

CI/CD Pipeline Security

Secure your build and deployment pipeline

  • Implement security quality gates at each stage
  • Sign and verify all artifacts and container images
  • Use least-privilege access for CI/CD service accounts
  • Audit and rotate CI/CD secrets regularly
  • Enable branch protection and require security reviews
  • Implement infrastructure as code scanning
  • Monitor pipeline for unauthorized changes

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