Dhaval Gajjar 
While developing software, it is quite easy to forget the basics – security. And that’s the reason most software projects fail. A secure software development life cycle is imperative in any software development project. These secure software development life cycle phases need to be applied irrespective of the field. Whether you want to develop custom software development for startups or an already established business, one thing you need to note here is that these phases are not necessary to always flow in a neat order. You may move back and forth between different secure SDLC life cycle phases per the requirement.
Now, if you are thinking about what it means to integrate security into the SDLC life cycle or how to implement a secure software development life cycle, you’ve come to the right place. This blog unpacks what SSDLC means, why it is important, how it works, the difference between SSDLC and SDLC, and the best practices for SSDLC success.
Let’s first start with understanding the secure software development life cycle.
What is the Secure Software Development Life Cycle?
The secure software development life cycle is the software development and delivery approach that prioritizes security at all phases of the software development life cycle. In simple ways, in SSDLC, security is the chief priority during development and deployment instead of running security tests and scans once the application is ready or performing them at only specific stages of the web and mobile app development process.
Why is the SSDLC important?
There are the following reasons why SSDLC is important.
1. Security as an Organizational Culture
SSDLC helps establish security in your organizational culture. It signals to the software development project team that they should prioritize security at all steps of the development process instead of giving it a backseat. Through this, the SSDLC helps put the concept of DevSecOps into practice. It means close collaboration between security and other technical teams. In short, it encourages the security-first approach within the organization.
2. Improved Security Coverage
With SSDLC, you run security tests and scans at multiple stages of SDLC. This practice is known as shift-left. It increases the chances of finding out the flaws before deploying insecure code into the production environment.
3. Efficient Solution of Security Issues
The earlier you find out the security issues during the software development life cycle phases, the easier it is to resolve them. By implementing SSDLC, you can encourage early and frequent security tests to quickly and more efficiently resolve security issues.
4. Shows Stronger Compliance
There is no major regulatory framework that incorporates specific rules related to security within the SDLC, but a secure software development life cycle can help show auditors and regulators that your organization prioritizes security. Besides, it will help demonstrate that your organization has enough security controls in place.
Secure Development Life Cycle Phases
The exact process to drive the integration of security into all SDLC phases is different, but the key phases are as follows:
1. Planning
During this phase, it is imperative to determine the software’s security requirements and include them in the project planning. It includes carrying out a risk assessment to find out the potential security threats and vulnerabilities and finding out the appropriate controls to alleviate them.
2. Requirement Analysis
In this phase, security requirements for the software are defined by ensuring that they are understood and fulfilled. It might include developing the threat model to identify potential attacks and determine how the software will protect against them.
3. Design
In this phase, developers translate in-scope requirements into the actual application. While UX UI designing, they keep security in mind. It may incorporate using secure design patterns, implementing controls, and running a security review of the design.
4. Development
During this phase, you must follow secure deployment practices to ensure the software is deployed securely. It may include carrying out the security assessment, implementing appropriate controls, and following best practices for securing the software in production.
5. Testing
The application/software undergoes a through quality assurance testing cycle in this phase to ensure it meets the original design and requirements. It is an excellent place to introduce automation security testing through different technologies. Without testing, the application won’t be deployed.
6. Deployment
During the deployment phase, it is imperative to follow strict, secure deployment practices to ensure that the software is securely deployed. It may include conducting a security assessment of the deployment environment and following the best practices for securing the software in production.
7. Maintenance
Even during the maintenance phase, it is imperative to prioritize security. It includes regularly monitoring the security issues, reviewing them, and patching the software application to fix vulnerabilities.
Now that you understand what a secure software development life cycle is let’s briefly understand the difference between SDLC and SSDLC.
What is the Difference Between SDLC and SSDLC?
The following table demonstrates the key difference between SDLC and SSDLC.
| Feature | SDLC | SSDLC |
| Security | Generally addressed at a later stage. | Focus on security from the planning phase. |
| Main Aim | Develop funcitonal software | Develop functional and secure software. |
| Fixing Issue Cost | Higher if security issues are found late | Lower because of early detection |
| Approach | Reactive as security flaws are detected at a later stage. | Proactive as the security is integrated during the development process. |
| Testing Focus | Testing software’s functionality and performance | Testing software’s functionality + performance + security |
How SDLC and SSDLC Work: A Practical Example
Now that you have the basic understanding of the SDLC and SSDLC let’s understand how it works through a practical example.
For example, while developing healthcare software applications, the team follows the SDLC to ensure a well-structured and efficient development process.
Let’s understand how SDLC works for healthcare application development.
The team identifies goals, requirements, and compliance standards like HIPAA or GDPR to make sure that the app meets the healthcare regulations. After that, stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, offer input on features they want in the app, such as appointment scheduling, telemedicine, and patient data management.
Once the requirement analysis is done, the developers will create blueprints with the aim of developing a user-friendly interface and secure data storage. After that, in the next step, coding begins by keeping focus on functionality, security, and integrating it with healthcare systems. Once the development is completed, the testing phase begins. In SDLC, only in the testing phase, we focus on testing security flaws and making the app bug-free.
After rigorous testing, the project team deploy the software/app and start gathering feedback. Now, in the final step, regular updates and patches are offered to keep the software/app reliable and compliant.
In SSDLC, when the team develops a healthcare app, they ensure security and functionality. They integrate security practices at each stage of the software development life process and make the app ideal for handling sensitive healthcare data.
For example, in the planning and requirement analysis phase, developers understand user needs, and compliance regulations and prioritize maintaining security. In the design phase, security measures such as encryption and access controls are planned along with desgining a user-friendly interface.
The next phase is development, in which secure coding practices are implemented with the aim of preventing vulnerabilities. Now, the next phase is testing in which emphasis will be placed on penetration testing and vulnerability assessment to make sure that the healthcare app is safe against cyber threats. The final phase is maintenance, in which constant monitoring and regular updates are addressed for the emerging security risks.
In short, in SSDLC, security is prioritized from planning to the maintenance phase, whereas in SDLC, security is addressed at a later stage.
Best Practices of Secure Software Development Life Cycle
If you want to get the most out of the SSDLC concept, consider the following best practices.
- Define the clear security policy and procedures. It helps understand which type of security tests and practices to implement during the SDLC.
- Prepare your organization to implement the SSDLC by providing employees with training and resources, establishing a secure development environment, and implementing the secure change management process.
- Assign responsibilities early so that each one knows who is responsible for what. Otherwise, no one will fix the issues as they will think it is someone else’s responsibility.
- Automate the security testing to ensure that the SSDLC keeps moving properly and that the security testing does not delay the application releases.
- Set the priority levels for security issues. Not all security concerns are serious enough to delay the software deployment until that flaw is fixed. By assigning the priority levels properly, it is imperative to establish the guidelines for how the team should react.
- Develop well-secured software code by using secure design patterns, implementing appropriate controls, following secure coding practices, and carrying out regular code reviews.
Let’s Enhance SDLC Security With Pranshtech
As the software industry is constantly evolving, traditional methods of testing vulnerabilities while software development are no longer sufficient. Deploying and maintaining the secure software requires securing each phase of the secure software development cycle. SSDLC gives you the ability to resolve security issues at the requirement phases rather than backtrack from the maintenance phase.
When you focus on security at each development stage, you can rest assured that your software application’s end result is more secure. Whether you are looking for secure SaaS product development services, UI UX design services, AI-ML development, mobile app development, or secure custom software development for startups, Pranshtech provides you at an affordable cost and delivers the project on time. With years of experience and a skilled software development team, you can rest assured you get quality software development services from us. To learn more about our services, contact us today.