Software Development Security: Essential Tips for Cyber Safety

Software Development Security: Essential Tips For Cyber Safety In this digital world, everything is happening with a click of your finger. So increasing technology increases security threats. Security, as part of the software development process, is an ongoing process that involves people and practices and makes sure that the application has confidentiality, integrity, and availability to the user. Secured software is the result of security-aware software development processes where security is built in and the software is developed with security.

Cyber security is most effective when it is planned and managed throughout every stage of the software development life cycle (SDLC) in critical applications or those that process sensitive important information. A solution to software development companies, security is more than just the technology.

What is Challenging about Software Development?

Software development security has various developers to help you with the development. As technology is advancing day by day, application environments become more difficult, and application development security becomes more challenging. The application, systems, and networks are commonly under various security attacks such as destroying code or service denial. Some challenges from the application development, have a security point of view which include Viruses, Trojan horses, Logic bombs, Worms, and Agents.

Applications may contain security vulnerabilities that may be introduced by software developers either intentionally or carelessly.

Software, environmental, and hardware controls are required even if they cannot prevent problems created by poor programming practices. You can take the help of a custom software development company to make it easy. By using limit and proper programming checks to validate users’ input, it will improve the quality of data. Even though programmers may follow best practices, an application can still fail due to unpredictable conditions and it could be handled through unexpected failures successfully by first logging all the information it will capture in preparation for auditing.

As security increases, so does the relative cost, and administrative overhead will be increasing rapidly.

Applications are generally developed by using high-level programming languages which in themselves can have security involvement. The basic activities that are important to

the software development process to produce secure applications and systems include conceptual definition, functional requirements, control specification, design review, code review and go-through, system test review, and maintenance and change management system. Hiring a team of software developers will lead you to a better understanding.

Building a well secure software is not only the responsibility of a software developer but also the responsibility of the stakeholders which includes: the management, the assigned project managers, business analysts, the quality assurance managers team, technical architects, security specialists, application owners, and engineers.

Basic Guiding Principles for Software Development Security There are several basic guiding principles to software security. The stakeholders have an idea about these and how they may be implemented in software is vital to software security.

These are the following principles: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Protection from disclosure Protection from alteration Protection from destruction Who is making the request?

Rights and privileges of the request holder Ability to build historical evidence Management of configuration, sessions, and errors/exceptions Basic practices

Below are some web security practices that are highly recommended to software developers.

1. Sanitize inputs at the client side and server-side 2. Encode request/response 3. Use HTTPS for domain entries 4. Use only current encryption and hashing algorithms 5. Do not allow for directory listing 6. Do not store sensitive data inside cookies 7. Check the randomness of the session 8. Set secure and HttpOnly flags in cookies 9. Use TLS, not SSL 10. Set a strong password policy 11. Not to store sensitive information in the form of hidden fields.

12. Verify file upload functionality 13. Set secure response headers

14. Make sure third-party libraries are secured 15. Hide web server information

What are the Features of Security Testing?

Features of security testing include; ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Authentication Authorization Confidentiality Availability Integrity Non-repudiation Resilience

Security testing is important to make sure that the system prevents unauthorized users from accessing its resources and data. The application data is sent over the internet and it travels through servers and network devices. This gives huge opportunities to corrupt hackers. Hire a software developers team and make a difference to the project.

Protect Your Software From Cyber Attacks The World Wide Web’s growth in the 1990s introduced new possibilities and new industries. The connectivity has also brought new threats, spam has entered email accounts, and computer viruses have broken the business networks. Hacking emerged, extending the definition of stealing to include the entering of computers to steal personal information and trick people into showing their private data like business secrets, bank account credentials, and even people’s identities are at risk.

Hiring a team of software developers to make your work easy. Unfortunately, hacking threats are even more severe and difficult to detect today. The stakes have become higher as more businesses are dependent on technology. Fortunately, organizations have multiple ways to help protect themselves and protect important data from hackers.

How can you secure your computer from hackers?

Despite the prevalence of hacking threats like ransomware, business email compromise scams, and data breaches, most businesses rely on the Internet for several things. ● ● ● ●

Tracking finances Ordering Maintaining inventory Conducting marketing

● ● ● ●

PR campaigns Connecting with customers Using social media Performing critical operations

Huge computer breaches affect big corporations with strong security measures. The hackers also target small businesses that may underestimate cybercrime risks and lack the resources to employ expensive cybersecurity solutions.

Careful cybersecurity standards can help the company to give your business the best chance of preventing and reducing cyberattacks, following these tips to protect your devices and safeguard sensitive data.

1. Use a firewall to secure your computers from hackers – Windows and macOS have built-in firewalls Software is designed to create a roadblock between your information and the outside world. Firewalls prevent unauthorized access to your business network and alert you to trespass attempts.

Make sure the firewall is enabled before going online. You can also purchase a hardware firewall from companies like Cisco, Sophos, or Fortinet it depends on your broadband router, which also has a built-in firewall that protects your network. If you have a larger business, you can purchase an additional business networking firewall.

2. Install antivirus software to thwart hackers.

Antivirus software is a small business cybersecurity necessity. Computer viruses and malware are everywhere. Antivirus programs like Bitdefender, Panda Free Antivirus, Malwarebytes and protect your computer against unauthorized code or software that may threaten your operating system. Viruses may have easy-to-spot effects. For example, they might slow your computer delete important files, or be less clear.

Antivirus software plays a major role in protecting your system by detecting real-time threats to make sure your data is safe. Some advanced antivirus programs provide automatic updates, further protecting your machine from the new viruses that are used daily.

3. Install an antispyware package to protect your business Spyware is software that secretly monitors and collects personal or organizational information. It’s hard to detect and remove and usually delivers unwanted ads or search

results intended to direct you to specific hacked websites. Some spyware records every measure to gain access to passwords and other financial information.

Antispyware concentrates especially on this threat but is often included in major antivirus packages, including Webroot, McAfee, and Norton. Antispyware packages provide real-time protection by scanning all incoming information and blocking the threats.

4. Use complex passwords to prevent network intrusions Using strong passwords is a crucial way to prevent network trespassing. The more secure your passwords are, the harder it is for hackers to get into your system.

Secure passwords are usually longer and more complex. Use a password with at least eight characters and a combination of numbers, use uppercase and lowercase letters, and computer symbols. Hackers have several tools to break short, easy passwords in minutes. ● Don’t use easy words or combinations that have your birthdays or other information hackers can connect to you. ● Don’t reuse passwords, either. If you have too many passwords to remember, consider using a password manager, such as Sticky Password, LastPass, or Password Boss.

5. Keep your OS, apps, and browser updated Always install operating system updates. Most updates include security fixes that prevent hackers from using and destroying or misusing your data and the same goes for apps.

Today’s web browsers are increasingly elegant, especially regarding privacy and security. Review your browser security settings to install all-new updates or any upgrades needed. For example, you can use your browser to prevent websites from tracking your movements this increases your online privacy. You can also use a private browsing mode or install a browser specifically focused on security like Epic Privacy Browser.

6. Ignore spam to stop hackers from infiltrating your system Be alert of email messages from unknown entities, and never click on links or open attachments that are with the mail/message. Inbox spam filters have become good at catching the most clearly visible spam. But more phishing emails that behave as if they

are your friends, associates, and trusted businesses have become common, so keep your eyes open for anything that looks or sounds like something not right.

7. Back up your computer to rebuild if necessary If your business is not backing up its hard drive start with it immediately. Backing up your information is important if hackers successfully get through and trash your system.

Always make sure you can rebuild as quickly as possible after suffering any data breach or loss. Backup utilities developed into macOS – Time Machine and Windows – File History are good places to start. Backing up to Google’s cloud backup system is quick.

8. Shutting down machines to become less visible to the hacker Many businesses, especially those operating a web server, are “all systems go” all the time. If you’re not operating a difficult internet-based company, switch off your machine overnight or during long hours when not working. Shutting down breaks the connection a hacker may have established with your network and disturbs it.

9. Use virtualization to protect your network Not everyone needs to take this route. However, if you visit messy websites, expect to be bombarded with spyware and viruses. While the best way to avoid being browser-derived is to see clear of unsafe sites, virtualization allows you to run your browser in a virtual environment, like Parallels or VMware Fusion this works as sidesteps your operating system to keep it safer.

10. Secure your network to hold intruders at bay Routers don’t always come up with the highest security settings enabled in them. When you set up your network, please log in to the router and choose a password using a secure and encrypt. This prevents the hackers from messing up with your network and settings.

11. Using two-factor authentication If passwords are so well made it will be the first to save your data. Many sites let you enable two-factor authentication, which boosts security because it requires you to type in a number code sent to your phone or email address once you enter your password when logging in.

12. Using encryption to hide information from hackers

Even if cybercriminals get access to your network and files, computer encryption can prevent them from accessing that information. You can encrypt your Windows or macOS hard drive with BitLocker in Windows or FileVault in Mac, encrypt USB flash drives with sensitive information, and use a VPN to encrypt web traffic.

The only shop at encrypted websites; you can spot them immediately by the “https” in the address bar accompanied by a closed-padlock icon.