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Establish & Use Repeatable Security Processes and Standard Security Controls
Whether you are new to web application security or are already very familiar with these risks, the task of producing a secure web application or fixing an existing one can be difficult. If you have to manage a large application portfolio, this task can be daunting.
To help organizations and developers reduce their application security risks in a cost effective manner, OWASP has produced numerous free and open resources that you can use to address application security in your organization. The following are some of the many resources OWASP has produced to help organizations produce secure web applications and APIs. On the next page, we present additional OWASP resources that can assist organizations in verifying the security of their applications and APIs.
Application Security Requirements
- To produce a secure web application, you must define what secure means for that application. OWASP recommends you use the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS), as a guide for setting the security requirements for your application(s). ASVS has been updated significantly in the past few years, with version 3.0.1 being released mid 2016. If you’re outsourcing, consider the OWASP Secure Software Contract Annex.
Understand Your SDLC
- Rather than retrofitting security into your applications and APIs, it is far more cost effective to design the security in from the start. OWASP recommends the OWASP Prevention Cheat Sheets and the OWASP Developer’s Guide as good starting points for guidance on how to design security in from the beginning. The Cheat Sheets have been updated and expanded significantly since the 2013 Top 10 was released.
Standard Security Controls
- Building strong and usable security controls is difficult. Using a set of standard security controls radically simplifies the development of secure applications and APIs. OWASP recommends the OWASP Enterprise Security API (ESAPI) project as a model for the security APIs needed to produce secure web applications and APIs. ESAPI provides a reference implementation in Java. Many popular frameworks come with standard security controls for authorization, validation, CSRF, etc.
Secure Development Lifecycle
- To improve the process your organization follows when building applications and APIs, OWASP recommends the OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM). This model helps organizations formulate and implement a strategy for software security that is tailored to the specific risks facing their organization. A significant update to Open SAMM was released in 2017.
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