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Difference between revisions of "Category:OWASP Security Spending Benchmarks"

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Revision as of 17:43, 18 December 2008

Category:OWASP Project

About the Security Spending Benchmarks Project

This Security Spending Benchmarks Project seeks to produce guidance and an industry accepted benchmark for justifying overall Web application security spending. We want to quantify how many dollar and human resources should be allocated towards the software development life-cycle, security training, security software/tools, independent third-party reviews, Web application firewalls, etc. This project is motivated by the fact that:

  • There are few, if any, industry standard benchmarks for executive management to consider when deciding what is a reasonable amount of resources to spend on Web application security in or out of the software development processes.
  • Spending on security helps mitigate risks whose potential costs are often difficult to quantify, thereby making justifying and obtaining security budgets difficult.
  • Many business initiatives require organizations to take “reasonable measures” and “adhere to best practices” for developing, delivering, and/or hosting secure Web application, but there is no industry consensus or data repositories on how this translates into monetary terms.
  • Smaller organizations outside of highly regulated industries purchase and deploy Web applications with no realistic ability to evaluate their security program.
  • Producing a less secure Web application may be less expensive than producing a more secure version of the same software. Organization that have invested development resources into software security may not be able to charge a premium for this investment because there is no reference point for the investment.


Prior to releasing the survey we are asking colleagues to help us formulate the most appropriate questions. Your feedback is much appreciated. We want to use the survey answers to address the following questions and many others:

  • What percentage of a Web application development groups headcount is dedicated towards security?
  • How much budget is allocated towards Web application security as a percentage of software development and overall operational IT security costs?
  • Where do Web application security budget come from?
  • How much budget is allocated towards security education?


How do the above answers correlate with:

  • Company size
  • Industry vertical
  • Sensitivity of the underlying data
  • Existence of executive level security oversight
  • Role of security in the company’s software development cycle


(Proposed) 25 Survey Questions

This survey is meant to be completed out by organizations who develop, sell, or host Web applications. It is not intended for general software consumers. Respondents do not not need to provide any individually identifiable information and no individual answers will be published. Only aggregate reports will be published. The survey only takes about 10 minutes. Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this survey and help us better understand security spending in software development.


  1. What is the approximate total number of employees in your organization?
  2. a. 1 - 10
    b. 10 - 100
    c. 100 - 500
    d. 500 - 1000
    e. 1000 - 5000
    f. Over 5000

  3. What market do you serve?
  4. a. Finance
    b. Medical
    c. Energy
    d. Government
    e. Education
    f. Professional Services
    g. Non-profit
    h. Retail
    i. Manufacturing
    j. Hospitality and Tourism
    k. Other (please specify)

  5. What is your role within the organization?
  6. a. Executive
    b. Security professional
    c. Project manager
    d. Developer
    e. Finance
    f. Sales
    g. Marketing
    h. Other (please specify)

  7. How important is Web application security to your executive management?
  8. a. Critical
    b. Very important
    c. Somewhat important
    d. Nice to have
    e. Not very important
    f. Don't know

  9. How important is Web application security generally to your customers?
  10. a. Critical
    b. Very important
    c. Somewhat important
    d. Nice to have
    e. Not very important
    f. Don't know

  11. Is security a part of your marketing or branding strategy for your product?
  12. a. Yes
    b. No

  13. Which of the following security personnel does your organization have? (check all that apply)
  14. a. A Chief Information Security Officer or other dedicated security executive on the company’s executive board.
    b. A senior manager or director dedicated to security
    c. Network security engineers
    d. Developers dedicated primarily to security
    e. Quality assurance testers dedicated primarily to security
    f. An Information Security Officer who also has other responsibilities.
    g. None
    h. Don’t know

  15. Have you suffered a significant and publicized security incident within the last two years?
  16. a. Yes
    b. No
    c. Don't know

  17. Rank the impact of the following factors on your organization security spending decisions
  18. a. Risk Mitigation
    b. Due Diligence
    c. Incident Response
    d. Compliance
    e. Competitive Advantage

  19. How do you expect your organization’s Web application security spending will change in 2009 in relation to the previous year?
  20. a. Over 20% spending increase
    b. Spending increase up to 20%
    c. Spending decrease less than 20%
    d. Over 20% spending decrease
    e. We don’t know yet
    f. We don’t measure security spending

  21. Approximately what percentage of your organizations overall IT Security budget is dedicated towards Web application security?
  22. a. 1 - 5%
    a. 5 - 10%
    a. 10 - 20%
    a. 20 - 50%
    a. Over 50%

  23. Does your organization produce software or systems that deal primarily with:
  24. a. Highly sensitive data
    b. Somewhat sensitive data
    c. Not very sensitive data
    d. Depends on who is deploying it

  25. Which of the following regulations apply to your software (check all that apply)?
  26. a. PCI-DSS
    b. HIPAA
    c. SOX
    d. FERPA
    e. GLBA
    f. Depends on who is deploying it
    g. Other regulations (please specify)
    h. None of the above
    i. Don't know

  27. Approximately how many Web application developers does your organization employ?
  28. a. 1 - 10
    b. 10 - 50
    c. 50 - 100
    d. 100 - 500
    e. Over 500

  29. How important is previous security experience when hiring Web application developers?
  30. a. Critical
    b. Very important
    c. Somewhat important
    d. Nice to have
    e. Not very important
    f. Don't know

  31. Approximately what percentage of your development groups time or head count is dedicated to security?
  32. a. Under 2%
    b. 2%-5%
    c. 5%-10%
    d. 10%-15%
    e. Over 15%
    f. Don’t know

  33. Do your developers undergo software security training? (check all that apply)
  34. a. Yes, via an external training course
    b. Yes, via internal resources
    c. Yes, via certifications
    d. No
    e. Don’t know

    • If yes, approximately how many of your developers participate?
    • a. All of almost all
      b. Most
      c. About half
      d. Some

    • If yes, out of what budget are the costs allocated?
    • a. Development
      b. Q&A
      c. IT Security
      d. General fund
      e. Varies
      f. Don't know

  35. What security checkpoint reviews are present during the Web application software development life-cycle?
  36. a. At every stage of the development process
    b. During the design phase
    c. During the testing phase
    d. Ad hoc
    e. No security reviews
    f. Don't know

    • If yes, where is the organizational responsibility for these reviews? (check all that apply)
    • a. Development
      b. Q&A
      c. IT Security
      d. Internal audit
      e. Varies
      f. Don't know

  37. How much of your organizations Web application software development is outsourced or subcontracted?
  38. a. All of almost all
    b. Most
    c. About half
    d. Some
    e. None or very little
    f. Don't know

  39. How do you review the security of outsourced or subcontracted Web application code? (check all that apply)
  40. a. We don’t review the security
    b. We contractually require adherence to best-practices and/or particular security measures.
    d. We conduct a security review internally
    e. We have an independent third-party firm conduct a security review
    f. Don't know

  41. How often are independent third-party security reviews performed before deploying a Web application? (check all that apply)
  42. a. Immediately before deployment
    a. During the testing phase
    a. During the design phase
    c. When requested by customers
    d. Never
    e. Don't know

    • If yes, out of what budget are the costs allocated?
    • a. Development
      b. Q&A
      c. IT Security
      d. Internal audit
      e. Varies
      f. Don't know

    • If budget specified, approximate what percentage of that budget is allocated?
    • a. All of almost all
      b. Most
      c. About half
      d. Some
      e. None or very little
      f. Don't know

  43. Do your IT security personnel undergo specialized training? (check all that apply)
  44. a. Yes, via an external training course
    b. Yes, via internal resources
    c. Yes, via certifications
    d. No
    e. Don’t know

  45. How many of your organizations deployed Web applications have Web application firewalls monitoring of defending them?
  46. a. All of almost all
    b. Most
    c. About half
    d. Some
    e. None or very little
    f. Don't know

    • If yes, out of what budget are the costs allocated?
    • a. Development
      b. Q&A
      c. IT Security
      d. Internal audit
      e. Varies
      f. Don't know

    • If budget specified, approximate what percentage of that budget is allocated?
    • a. All of almost all
      b. Most
      c. About half
      d. Some
      e. None or very little
      f. Don't know

Additional Survey Questions to Consider

Deleted Questions

  1. What is the total approximate annual revenue of your organization in USD?
  2. a. Under 1 million
    b. 1 million – 5 million
    c. 5 million- 25 million
    d. 25 million- 100 million
    e. Over 100 million

  3. Which of the following background checks are conducted when hiring developers? (please check all that apply)
  4. a. Basic criminal background check
    b. Extensive overall background check via third party
    c. Contacting references
    d. None
    e. Don't know

  5. If you answered yes to the question on external security reviews, what is the approximate annual expenditure (USD) on these reviews?
  6. a. Under $25,000
    b. $25,000- $50,000
    c. $50,000 - $100,000
    d. $100,000 - $250,000
    e. $250,000 - $1,000,000
    f. Over 1 million

  7. Which of the following sensitive data types do your Web applications process? (check all that apply)
  8. a. Names, addresses, and other personally identifiable information
    b. Credit card information
    c. Health care related information
    d. Financial account information
    e. Intellectual property
    f. Confidential information
    g. Other (please specify)


Project Status

Completing the project description text and finalizing the proposed 25 survey questions.


Project Contributors

The Security Spending Benchmarks Project Leader is Boaz Gelbord (Executive Director of Information Security, Wireless Generation). Boaz can be contacted reached directly at bgelbord AT wgen.net with any questions or feedback.

  • Jeremiah Grossman (CTO, WhiteHat Security)

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