FATEMAH BEYDOUN
THE FUTURE OF DEVELOPER SECURITY MATURITY IS BRIGHT, AND THESE VERTICALS ARE LEADING THE CHARGE by Fatemah Beydoun, Chief Customer Officer, Secure Code Warrior An unspoken war is raging in most IT departments
As an industry we have a long way to go to uplift
across the world, a David and Goliath battle
developer security maturity. However, in my role, I am
between two critical teams: application security
fortunate to work with many organisations leading
and developers. With conflicting priorities and
the charge in helping developers become the security
relationships that are often extremely negative, it is
superheroes we need on the front lines. Generally,
no wonder some internal security cultures are on
their overall internal security maturity is more
life support.
advanced than the norm, and some verticals seem to achieve maturity faster than others. Let us explore why.
Okay, perhaps that was a little dramatic, but it
It is no longer good enough to exclude them from a
MODERN SECURITY MATURITY: WHICH VERTICALS DO IT BEST, AND WHAT SETS THEM APART?
comprehensive, defensive security strategy. With the
There are multiple security maturity models, but
cost of the average data breach swelling to $US4.35M
across the board the adoption of security maturity
in 2022, it is imperative we give cyber defence our
basics like overall role-based awareness and relevant
best shot. That will mean taking an honest look at
skills is somewhat hit-and-miss. However, I have
internal security maturity, and building it upon a
found the financial sector to be ahead of the game in
strong foundation.
both security maturity and in its willingness to make
reinforces my argument: we have got to do more to foster a positive security experience for developers.
developers part of the plan.
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W O M E N I N S E C U R I T Y M A G A Z I N E
N O V E M B E R • D E C E M B E R 2022