Secure Coding Practices for 2023: Writing Code with Security in Mind

Coding or programming began in 1883 by Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace. Babbage created the device while Lovelace wrote the instructions for the device to follow. It was basic coding for an algorithm for the Analytical Engine.

The first computer programming language was built about a hundred years later in 1949 followed by the creation of algorithmic programming languages. The rest is history with Java, C, and LISP coming into the picture. Today, over 500 programming languages help build sophisticated computer programs and coordinate instructions between the device and the user.

Vulnerabilities, cyberattacks, and ransomware came into the picture. This led to creation teams looking for patches and secure coding that evolved over the years.

Writing Code with Security in Mind

Every electronic device, including phones, laptops, watches, games, etc., works on codes making way for loopholes in the coding that hackers can exploit to manipulate how the device works and/ or to steal system data. This is why secure coding focuses on secure programming, writing codes to create software while avoiding vulnerability exploitation.

Secure coding is an effort to write codes for programs or create software that proactively takes measures to address flaws and vulnerabilities in mind with a tried and trusted plan to thwart them. Although it is uncertain whether such secure coding will create something undamageable, it is essential in the day and age of cyberattacks penetrating software.

Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) helps in detecting and mitigating software flaws with the help of secure coding. Mistakes left unattended by developers can also be detected by shifting security left or the shift-left security across the network.

Flaws can be detected during runtime, after compilation, or from open-source components. Inconsistencies in coding can also be found at rest using Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST). While Static Application Security Testing (SAST) helps scan source code for bugs.

Secure coding adheres to coding best practices outlined by experts and bodies that determine vulnerability and coding standards. OWASP and SEI Cert are two of the more common and established secure coding standards that outline the importance of the following factors –

1. Keeping it simple
2. Data protection
3. Data input validation
4. Authentication and password management
5. Access control
6. Error handling
7. Threat detection

10 Common Secure Coding Practices of 2023

Making security a part of the coding process is a must to develop and promptly spot flaws that could be mitigated.  Here are the 10 most common and crucial secure coding practices of 2023.

1. Use intuitive, effective and simple designs. Avoiding complicating security controls as needed so everyone in the team follows and utilizes them for basic and advanced software security.
2. Work on the architecture. Load secure plugins and libraries and use a secure architecture practice.
3. Access control. Avoid offering access to controls to all by default. Watch for unauthenticated access and keep required policies in place for access.
4. Least privilege. After checking default access, turn to the principles of least privilege wherein validation is sought for every request. Reviewing permissions periodically is also expected.
5. Create the right lists. Having a set of allowlists, and blocklists would help to maintain security.
6. Keep a tab on user input. Merely trusting user input can pose a risk to the program. Instead, keep a tab on data length, characters, and data format and maintain restrictions on user input.
7. Manage credentials. Using transport layer security (TLS) client is one way to maintain client authentication. Keeping a tab on authentication error messages can also give a glimpse of what can be corrected in terms of access and credentials.
8. Create security. Manage the security settings of applications, maintain a secure runtime environment, and create multiple layers of security while coding.
9. Maintain secure communication channels. Encrypted communications work best in not having unauthenticated users peek into what is not meant for them. Maintaining trusted security certificates and signing one’s codes can help in this effort.
10. Follow the right coding standard. Following trusted, standardized, and approved coding developed by experts and approved globally can reduce vulnerability to a considerable length.

Pillars of Secure Coding

(Photo: Snyk)

Secure coding relies on the pillars of people, processes, and tooling. While developers focus on completing the task on fixed deadlines and creating the package that clients demand, creating secure coding based on these pillars seeks a mindshift.

People

The focal point of secure coding is people and their data security. It requires not just developers to focus on security but also stakeholders, product managers, and all other staff that need not be directly involved with coding.

Processes

The pillar of processes seeks a secure software development life cycle which makes sure the software is monitored at each stage of its development. Be it development, testing, designing, or deployment. If a phase of software coding is missed monitoring, it may lead to the development of a product that is flawed which can get exploited and give access to hackers of entire networks and organizations.

Tooling

Keeping a balance between the adaptability of developers with old and new tools is a must in what is developed as an end product. Including newer or better tools that developers lack complete knowledge about can lead to miscalculations and misjudgments impacting the security of the software.

The Need for Secure Code Review

Any average software application may have nearly 1.3 million lines of code that must ideally be error-free and at the same time reviewed in multiple stages. Secure code review can be automated or manual however is unavoidable in today’s age of cyberattacks veered towards software vulnerabilities and incompatibility. It also helps in compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS among others.

Secure code review is the art of creating software with features and tools that deters or prevents exploitation through known or unknown vulnerabilities.

Secure code review offers preventive measures that work on certain principles teamed with code review that helps detect flaws early on.

Impact of Vulnerabilities in Software

A study by Veracode proved that nearly 70% of the vulnerabilities in software could have been mitigated with secure code reviews. Despite this, another study concluded that only 20% of new developers are trained in secure coding. Another appalling research read that only 29% of developers believed in working on vulnerability-free code.

To add to the misery, it was found that 36% of developers fail to create better, vulnerability-free coding because of deadlines they must meet. All this while several studies including one IBM research concluded that the average cost borne by a company for a security incident in the US was $3.86 million.

Companies end up coughing up millions of dollars on lawsuits, paying cybersecurity professionals, and developers while still creating programs that have loopholes. This calls for a team that is trained in secure coding, so they develop keeping the ever-evolving principles of security in mind.

Secure coding also looks to keep realistic deadlines in mind for developers who are overworked which adversely impacts the end product which the entire enterprise relies on. Secure coding would work when the entire team is built with a focus on security and understanding the gravity of the threat that looms over work that is not done using secure coding.