Best Practices for Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC)
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As part of the “Best Practices” series by Uplatz
Welcome back to the Uplatz Best Practices series — your trusted guide to designing software that’s scalable, maintainable, and secure.
Today’s focus: Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) — a critical discipline to embed security at every stage of software creation.
🧱 What is Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC)?
The Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) is an enhanced version of the traditional SDLC, where security is integrated into every phase — from planning and requirements to deployment and maintenance.
It transforms security from a final checkpoint into a continuous, collaborative, and proactive process.
Benefits include:
- Early identification of vulnerabilities
- Lower remediation costs
- Improved compliance (e.g., ISO, SOC 2, GDPR)
- Higher customer trust and platform resilience
✅ Best Practices for Secure Software Development Lifecycle
Building secure software isn’t about just scanning code at the end — it requires a security-first mindset baked into every team, process, and tool.
1. Shift Security Left
🔍 Embed Security in Design & Requirements – Threat modeling should happen before writing code.
💬 Collaborate with Security Champions – Appoint security-focused team members in dev squads.
⚠️ Raise Risks Early – Use risk registers and track threats alongside user stories.
2. Establish Secure Coding Standards
🧾 Follow Language-Specific Guidelines – Use OWASP, SEI CERT, or industry references.
🚫 Avoid Known Vulnerabilities – Protect against injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure deserialization, etc.
📘 Use Code Reviews to Enforce Standards – Security should be part of every PR.
3. Integrate Static & Dynamic Analysis
🧪 Run Static Application Security Testing (SAST) – Scan code during builds (e.g., SonarQube, Checkmarx).
🌐 Use Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) – Simulate runtime attacks in staging.
📦 Scan Dependencies – Use tools like Snyk, OWASP Dependency-Check, or GitHub Dependabot.
4. Conduct Threat Modeling
🧠 Identify Entry Points, Assets, and Attack Vectors – Use STRIDE, DREAD, or PASTA models.
🗺 Map Trust Boundaries and Data Flows – Especially for multi-tier or distributed systems.
📋 Make It a Recurring Activity – Update models as features and architecture evolve.
5. Secure the Build and CI/CD Pipelines
🔐 Sign Artifacts and Verify Integrity – Use checksum validation and signed containers.
🛡 Limit Privileges in Build Agents – Harden CI servers and isolate secrets.
📤 Scan Before Deploying – Include image scanning and IaC validation in CI/CD.
6. Protect Secrets and Sensitive Data
🔑 Use Secret Management Tools – Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager.
🔍 Avoid Hardcoded Secrets in Code/Env Files – Enforce secrets linting in CI.
🔐 Encrypt Data at Rest and In Transit – Always use HTTPS and secure database encryption.
7. Authentication and Authorization
🪪 Centralize Identity with SSO or IAM – Avoid custom auth unless absolutely necessary.
🛂 Enforce RBAC or ABAC – Define roles, scopes, and fine-grained permissions.
🔐 Use Secure Tokens (e.g., JWT, OAuth2) – Implement short expiry and token revocation.
8. Logging, Monitoring, and Incident Readiness
📈 Log Security Events Intelligently – Login failures, access violations, permission changes.
🧩 Integrate SIEM Tools – Correlate logs with alerts (e.g., Splunk, Datadog, ELK).
🧯 Establish Incident Response Playbooks – Include escalation paths and rollback plans.
9. Security Testing
🔁 Perform Regular Penetration Testing – External and internal; manual and automated.
🧪 Use Red Team/Blue Team Exercises – Simulate real-world attacks and defenses.
📤 Test APIs, Integrations, and Mobile Apps – All attack surfaces matter.
10. Security Awareness & Training
🎓 Train Developers Regularly – Secure coding, OWASP Top 10, SCA/SAST tools.
📅 Make Security a Cultural Norm – Reinforce with tooling, dashboards, and gamified challenges.
🧭 Create a Security Feedback Loop – Encourage reporting, learning, and improvements.
💡 Bonus Tip by Uplatz
Security is not just a phase.
It’s a habit, culture, and responsibility — shared by everyone who touches the code.
🔁 Follow Uplatz to get more best practices in upcoming posts:
- Infrastructure as Code
- Data Governance
- CI/CD Pipelines
- Application Security
- Identity & Access Management
…and dozens more across DevSecOps, AI, Architecture, and Cloud.