Organizations are grappling with increasing security challenges, especially in application development, due to the unprecedented rise in cyberattacks. The rise of automated attacks, the complexity of modern APIs, and the fast-paced release cycles create chaos for many companies. Mend.io, a leader in application security, recommends establishing an internal security champion as a vital strategy to combat these challenges effectively.
This blog post explores the concept, benefits, and implementation of a security champion program and how it bridges the gaps between development and security teams.
What is a security champion?
A security champion acts as a liaison between the development and security teams. Their primary role is to embed security best practices into the development lifecycle. Security champions may come from development teams or security units, but they share a common goal: fostering collaboration and reducing friction between the two groups.
There are two critical types of security champions:
- Technical Security Champions: Typically, developers who focus on implementing and enforcing secure coding practices. They often manage security tools, review vulnerabilities, and contribute to architectural decisions.
- Non-Technical Security Champions: These individuals ensure compliance with security training, validate processes and handle security communications. Their role is pivotal in maintaining awareness and accountability.
The rising need for security champions
The application security domain has witnessed exponential growth in threats due to various factors:
The "minecraft generation" effect: Younger, tech-savvy individuals leverage accessible AI tools to explore vulnerabilities, increasing automated attack attempts on organizations.
The expanding API ecosystem: APIs often become entry points for exploitation if not adequately secured
Complex developer-security dynamics: Developers prioritize feature releases, while security teams focus on safeguarding systems. This creates friction when security vulnerabilities are introduced during fast-paced development cycles.
Organizations prepared for these challenges often exhibit a critical distinguishing factor: they embrace a security champion program to foster collaboration and maintain focus on security within development processes.
Why Mend.io emphasizes security champions
Mend.io's approach to application security hinges on integrating security into the developer's workflow. Here are some reasons Mend.io advocates for security champions:
Mitigating friction between teams
Developers often focus on meeting deadlines and delivering features quickly, which can make security feel like a bottleneck to their productivity. Meanwhile, security teams prioritize identifying vulnerabilities, which developers may only sometimes address promptly due to their workload. A security champion bridges this gap by ensuring developers receive curated and prioritized vulnerabilities, fostering trust, collaboration, and a smoother workflow between the two teams.
Streamlining vulnerability management
Without a dedicated security champion, vulnerabilities identified by tools such as SAST (Static Application Security Testing) or DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) can be overwhelming and lack actionable insights. Security champions are critical in triaging these vulnerabilities, focusing on the most pressing issues, and providing clear remediation context. This streamlined approach makes the process more efficient and developer-friendly, ensuring that only meaningful and actionable vulnerabilities reach development teams.
Improving application resilience
Security champions advocate for best practices such as zero-trust architecture and thorough API validation. Their proactive involvement ensures robust defenses against attacks, such as securing APIs from unvalidated inputs and mitigating risks early in development. By embedding these principles, security champions significantly reduce the chances of vulnerabilities going unnoticed and strengthen applications' overall security posture.
Scalability across organizations
As organizations grow, the ratio of security personnel to developers often decreases, creating challenges in maintaining consistent security practices. Security champions fill this gap by embedding security expertise within development teams, enabling scalable security measures across large and distributed teams. This approach ensures that security remains an integral and manageable part of the development lifecycle even as organizations expand.
Implementing a security champion program
Mend.io highlights the following steps for organizations to build and sustain an effective security champion program:
1. Start small, scale gradually:
- Even teams with as few as five developers can establish a security champion. Begin by identifying volunteers passionate about security.
- Over time, scale the program by formalizing roles and allocating time for security champion responsibilities.
2. Provide training and resources:
- Security champions must understand common vulnerabilities like SQL injections or cross-site scripting and know how to address them.
- Mend.io’s tools, such as SAST and dependency management systems, provide actionable insights that champions can use to educate their teams.
3. Integrate with developer workflows:
- Mend.io ensures that security results are visible within familiar developer environments like GitHub or GitLab, reducing the barriers to onboarding for security champions.
- Champions can use tools like Mend.io's Renovate to review pull requests directly, prioritize critical fixes, and recommend dependency upgrades.
4. Foster a culture of collaboration:
Encourage champions to participate in technical reviews and advocate for secure coding standards during development.
- Maintain open communication channels between champions and security and development teams to address issues effectively.
5. Leverage tools and dashboards:
- Mend.io provides centralized dashboards that allow champions to monitor trends, critical vulnerabilities, and project-specific risks. These insights guide prioritization and strategic decision-making.
Real-world impact of security champions
Organizations with security champion programs report transformative outcomes:
Reduced vulnerability backlogs: By curating and prioritizing vulnerabilities, champions prevent developers from becoming overwhelmed and promptly address critical issues.
Improved developer awareness: Training sessions and targeted fixes championed by these individuals enhance developers' understanding of security principles, introducing fewer vulnerabilities.
Enhanced collaboration: The program builds trust between development and security teams, leading to smoother workflows and shared goals.
Mend.io’s tools: aiding security champions
Mend.io equips security champions with tools to enhance their effectiveness in managing application security. Tools like Renovate automate dependency management, offering developers actionable insights on package updates. This includes high-confidence updates that reduce the burden on developers by ensuring minimal disruption, allowing them to focus on critical issues. Additionally, Mend.io provides comprehensive dashboards that consolidate insights from SAST, DAST, and other tools, offering champions a unified and holistic view of application security. To further streamline processes, Mend.io includes automated remediation recommendations and detailed reports, enabling seamless communication and collaboration between security and development teams while saving time and effort.
Conclusion
The role of an internal security champion is indispensable in modern application development. By embedding security expertise within development teams, organizations can overcome many challenges today’s complex threat landscape poses. Mend.io advocates for security champion programs and provides the tools and processes to make them successful.
For organizations seeking to secure their applications while maintaining developer velocity, adopting a security champion program with Mend.io’s support is a step toward sustainable, scalable security. Start small, build gradually, and empower your teams with the right resources to succeed.
