Security in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
Integrating security into the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) — rather than appending it as a final audit — dramatically reduces the cost and impact of security vulnerabilities. We follow a Secure SDLC approach across all client engagements.
Security at Each SDLC Phase
- Requirements: Define security requirements alongside functional requirements. Identify sensitive data flows. Define authentication, authorisation, and audit requirements. Complete a DPIA for personal data processing.
- Design: Threat modelling to identify risks. Review architecture for security anti-patterns. Define cryptography standards. Design access control model.
- Development: Secure coding standards. Code review including security considerations. Developer security training. SAST tools in IDE and CI/CD.
- Testing: Security-focused test cases. Dependency vulnerability scanning. DAST scanning. Penetration testing for major releases.
- Deployment: Security configuration review. Production secrets rotation. Security header configuration. WAF rules tuning.
- Operations: Continuous monitoring. Vulnerability management. Patch management. Incident response.
Our Security Checkpoints
For all client projects we conduct:
- Security requirements review during discovery
- Architecture security review during design
- Code-level security review prior to deployment
- Pre-launch security checklist covering OWASP Top 10, security headers, secret management, and access controls