10 Secure Coding Practices Every Cybersecurity Professional Must Know

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According to the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), about two-thirds of all web application security breaches are caused by insecure coding practices. This means that if you are a developer, there is a high chance that the code you write contains at least one security vulnerability.

The good news is that every developer can adopt several secure coding practices to help reduce the risk of writing unsafe code. This guide will share the top 10 secure coding practices every developer should know. So whether you're a lead developer working for a major tech company, or a student developer on a freelance contract, you no longer have to worry about writing insecure code!

Before we delve into the top ten secure coding practices, it's critical to understand the current state of cyber risk. After all, as a developer, you need to understand the risks you face in order to take appropriate steps to mitigate them.

ThoughtLab found that cybersecurity breaches rose 20.5 percent in 2021 as cybercriminals grew more sophisticated during the global pandemic.

With the frequency and cost of cyber incidents rising, it's more important than ever for developers to adopt secure coding practices. By doing this, you can help protect your organization from costly cyber breaches.

Standard Terminology Used in Cyber Risk

To get us on the same page, let's quickly define some common terms related to cyber risk:

Network Security : The practice of protecting your computer network and systems from unauthorized access or theft.
Cybercrime : A crime committed using a computer or the Internet. Examples of cybercrime include identity theft and phishing scams.
Vulnerability : A weakness in a system, application, or network that an attacker can exploit to gain unauthorized access or cause harm.
Threats : Potential hazards that could exploit a vulnerability and cause harm to an organization, such as malware, phishing attacks, and ransomware.
Attack : An attempt to exploit a vulnerability.
Compromise : A successful attack that results in unauthorized access to or damage to an organization's systems, applications, or data.
Now that we've covered the basics of cyber risk, let's move on to some of the types of cyber attacks you might encounter. Top 10 Secure Coding Practices Every Developer Should Know.

Types of Cyber Attacks

There are many types of cyber attacks, but some are more common than others. In this section, we'll cover the most common forms of attack that you, as a developer, need to be aware of.

SQL injection

SQL injection is one of the most common types of attacks. This happens when an attacker inserts malicious code into a SQL database to gain access to sensitive data.

Cross-site scripting (XSS)

Cross-site scripting (XSS) is an attack that injects malicious code into web pages. When a user visits an infected page, malicious code is executed, allowing the attacker to steal sensitive information or take control of the user's browser.

Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

A Denial of Service (DoS) attack attempts to make a computer or network resource unavailable to its legitimate users. A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a DoS attack that uses multiple computers to flood a target with traffic, making it difficult or impossible for legitimate users to access resources.

malicious software

Malware is software designed to damage or disable a computer. It can take many forms, such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware.

Phishing

Phishing is a social engineering attack that involves tricking users into revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial information. Attackers often use email or text messages to lure victims to fake websites that look like legitimate ones, such as banking or social media.

Top 10 Secure Coding Practices

Now that we've established the importance of secure coding practices, let's take a look at the top 10 secure coding practices every developer should know to help defend against cyberattacks.

1. Use static code analysis tools

One of the best ways to find and fix security holes in your code is to use a static code analysis tool. Static code analysis tools scan your code for potential security vulnerabilities and provide you with actionable insights so you can fix them.

For example, suppose you are developing a web application for caller ID. Static code analysis tools scan your code for common web application security vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). If any potential vulnerabilities are found, the tool will provide you with information on how to fix them.

2. Keep your software up to date

This includes not only the operating system you're using, but any third-party software libraries and frameworks you're using. Outdated software is often the cause of security breaches. As software ages, new security vulnerabilities are discovered and fixed in newer releases. However, if you're still using an older software version, you're at risk of being exploited by these newly discovered security flaws.

That's why it's important to always use the latest versions of all the software you use. By doing this, you help protect your code from known security vulnerabilities.

3. Use strong passwords

This means using a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. It is also important to use a different password for each account. That way, if one of your accounts is compromised, the attacker won't be able to access your other accounts. For example, let's say you're using a hosted PBX phone system and working on the PandaDoc service proposal template. Use the same password for your PandaDoccommunications platform account as for your email account. Then, if your email account is hacked, the attacker will also have access to your PandaDoc account communication platform account.

To help you remember all your different passwords, you can use a password manager. A password manager is a software application that stores and encrypts your passwords. This way, you only need to remember one master password to access all others.

4. Clean up your data

Before storing or processing data, it is important to sanitize it to remove anything that may be harmful. Data cleaning is the process of identifying and removing or transforming potentially harmful content in data.

For example, suppose you are developing a web application that allows users to submit comments on articles. Before storing these comments in your database, you should sanitize them to remove any potentially harmful HTML markup or script code that could be used to launch a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack.

By sanitizing your data, you can help protect your applications from security breaches.

5. Encrypt your communications

Another important secure coding practice is to encrypt your communications. This means using a technology called Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt any data transferred between the two systems.

TLS is the successor to the older Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. TLS is more secure than SSL because it uses stronger encryption algorithms.

When encrypting your communications, it's important to use a version of TLS that is still considered secure. Currently, the latest and most secure TLS version is 1.3.

6. Implement Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an extra layer of security that can be used to protect your account. With 2FA, you need to provide a password and another piece of information, such as a code sent to your phone. This makes it harder for attackers to gain access to your account, even if they somehow manage to get your password.

Let's say you want to email the results of a compliance test for a letter of intent template. If 2FA is enabled on your email account, an attacker would not only need your password, but also access to your phone to see the codes needed to log in.

7. Minimize the amount of code you use

One way to make your code more secure is to minimize the amount of code you use. The less code you have, the less likely there is to be a security breach.

There are several ways to minimize the amount of code you use. One way is to use existing libraries and frameworks instead of writing code. Another approach is to use a cleanly designed programming language, such as Python.

8. Conduct regular penetration testing

Penetration testing (also known as pen testing) is performing a simulated attack on your system in order to find security holes. Penetration testing can be performed manually or with the help of automated tools.

Regular penetration testing is a great way to discover and fix potential security holes before attackers exploit them.

9. Apply antivirus software and keep it up to date

Antivirus software can help protect your system from malware. It works by scanning files and identifying any infected files. Antivirus software will delete the malware or quarantine the file if the file is corrupted.

Keeping your antivirus software up to date is crucial because new malware is constantly being created. Most antivirus software updates automatically, but you should check to see if this is the case with yours.

10. Follow the principle of least privilege

The principle of least privilege (also known as the principle of least privilege) is a security principle that states that users should be granted only the least amount of privileges necessary to perform their jobs.

For example, if you're a developer, you probably don't need administrative rights to your computer. However, granting administrative privileges to developers can lead to potential security breaches because they could inadvertently give attackers access to sensitive information or systems.

Summarize

So there you have it. Here are ten secure coding practices every developer should know. Together, they reduce errors and protect your system from malicious activity. By following these conventions, you can help keep your code secure, protect your company, and reduce the chances of being exploited by attackers.