Security has always been key to software applications. Yet, as cyberattacks become more common, more sophisticated and more malicious, the need for software that is truly secure by design is now more crucial than ever. That’s why Cegeka’s software development culture increasingly focuses on producing secure code: our software engineers take security into account at every stage of the software development cycle – from planning through to building and deploying the software.
Our software engineers embed security in every stage of the software development cycle – from planning through to building and deploying the software.
In fact, producing secure applications starts before the actual software building phase begins. Cegeka kicks off every software development project with a series of workshops to clarify your expectations and needs. During this foundation phase, the project team prepares a list of functional and non-functional requirements, including security features like authorization and authentication.
Learn why the foundation phase is the basis for software success
Factors like the type of application and the usage environment have an obvious effect on the security requirements. An app used for a one-off marketing campaign, for example, will require less embedded security than complex applications that contain sensitive data, such as the application we built for Kind & Gezin to calculate and pay family allowances.
When designing your application, while writing the code and just before deploying your software, we adhere to a wide range of best practices to uncover and correct vulnerabilities – and, as such, reduce the risk of potential security issues. Best practices include:
The software we build is not built totally from scratch. Every application includes a great deal of open source software, which, if not managed well, poses a security threat. To minimize and/or mitigate security risks, we constantly monitor our applications using the OWASP top 10 report as a guideline. OWASP outlines security concerns for web applications, helping us to spot vulnerabilities in authentication, sensitive data exposure, broken access controls, security misconfigurations, etc. while we’re developing and testing applications. Our open source software-related best practices are laid down in a compliance policy that describes how to use, contribute, audit and distribute open source software.
With the need for strong security and compliance during the software development cycle growing exponentially, Cegeka has invested big in training sessions for the software team. Moreover, we constantly share best practices, policies and checklists to ensure that security is firmly embedded into the DNA of our digital factory.
In addition to our software developers, our sales teams increasingly highlight and consider ‘security’ and privacy aspects in their offerings. Thanks to our security-first approach, you can rest assured that your software meets the highest-possible security requirements and complies with all security-related laws and regulations.
It is key for everyone involved in the project to embrace a security-centric mindset, from software developers to sales reps.