Secure Software Development Lifecycle Policy
1. Purpose
Establish requirements for integrating security throughout the software development lifecycle to prevent, detect, and remediate security vulnerabilities in [ORGANIZATION]'s developed and acquired applications.
2. Scope
This policy applies to all software developed, customized, or acquired by [ORGANIZATION], including in-house applications, web applications, APIs, mobile applications, and scripts deployed in production environments.
3. Policy
3.1 SDLC Security Requirements
[ORGANIZATION] shall integrate security activities into each phase of the software development lifecycle: Requirements (security requirements, threat modeling), Design (secure architecture review, security design patterns), Development (secure coding standards, peer code review), Testing (security testing, vulnerability scanning), Deployment (secure deployment procedures, configuration review), and Maintenance (patch management, ongoing monitoring).
A secure SDLC process shall be documented and communicated to all development teams.
Security requirements shall be defined for each application based on data classification and risk assessment.
3.2 Secure Coding Practices
Developers shall follow documented secure coding standards based on OWASP, CERT, or equivalent guidelines for their programming language.
Code shall be developed to prevent common vulnerability classes including: injection attacks (SQL, command, LDAP), cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), insecure deserialization, broken authentication, and sensitive data exposure.
Third-party libraries and components shall be tracked in a software bill of materials (SBOM) and monitored for known vulnerabilities.
Hardcoded credentials, API keys, and secrets are prohibited in source code. Secrets shall be managed through approved secrets management solutions.
3.3 Security Testing
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) shall be integrated into the CI/CD pipeline and performed on all code before merge to the main branch.
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) shall be performed on all web applications at least [CUSTOMIZE: quarterly/monthly] and before each major release.
Software composition analysis (SCA) shall be used to identify vulnerabilities in third-party components and libraries.
Penetration testing shall be performed on critical applications at least [CUSTOMIZE: annually] by qualified testers.
Security vulnerabilities identified through testing shall be remediated according to the Vulnerability Management Policy SLAs.
3.4 Deployment Security
Production deployments shall follow a documented, repeatable process using CI/CD automation where feasible.
Developers shall not have direct access to production environments. Deployment shall be performed through automated pipelines or by designated operations personnel.
Production environments shall be separate from development, testing, and staging environments with no shared credentials.
Deployment rollback procedures shall be documented and tested for each critical application.
4. Compliance
Compliance with this policy is mandatory for all personnel within its scope. Compliance will be monitored through periodic audits, automated controls, and management review.
Exceptions to this policy must be documented with a business justification, approved by [CUSTOMIZE: CISO/Security Team], and reviewed at least annually.
5. Enforcement
Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment or contract, and may result in civil or criminal penalties where applicable law has been violated.
[ORGANIZATION] reserves the right to audit compliance with this policy at any time, with or without notice.
6. Review and Revision
This policy shall be reviewed at least annually by [CUSTOMIZE: CISO/Policy Owner] and updated as necessary to reflect changes in the threat landscape, regulatory requirements, or organizational structure.
All revisions shall be documented with version number, date, author, and description of changes.
Policy Approval
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