IT Shops Neglecting Secure Software Development
Enterprises aren't necessarily following secure software development procedures, according to a newly issued report. The report surveyed more than 170 IT pros and found just 48 percent with acceptable security procedures when developing software. Management appears to be rebuffing the costs associated with it, in some cases.
The finding is bad news for in-house software developers at organizations. Would it be a boom for Microsoft, which has been advocating its secure development lifecycle (SDL) model as an approach for others to adopt? It would seem so. However, a Gartner analyst recently questioned the effectiveness of Microsoft's SDL approach.
In analyzing mid-year 2010 data from Secunia and IBM, Neil MacDonald, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, found that Apple's software had more security vulnerabilities than Microsoft's software. However, Microsoft's software had the highest number of vulnerabilities that were rated "critical."
MacDonald offers speculation about why Windows continues to generate critical flaws, even as Microsoft has improved its SDL model over seven years' time. Either the bad guys are getting better or SDL "is losing its effectiveness in finding the really difficult bugs," he commented.
It looks like software development security is hard to do, and expensive. Has your shop implemented a secure development lifecycle or is security just an afterthought to getting the job done? Tell Doug what works, or isn't working, at [email protected].
-By Kurt Mackie
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/09/2011 at 1:18 PM