The 2022 Forrester Research survey, “Breaches By The Numbers: Adapting To Regional Challenges Is Imperative,” found that 63% of organizations were breached in the past year. It also showed that attackers are shifting their focus from targeting vulnerable infrastructure to targeting the code within applications.
As the attacks on code continue, the shift-left DevSecOps movement has rapidly gained traction as a viable solution. Enabling development teams with the right security tools should, in theory, result in more secure code written earlier in the development process. Despite this seemingly simple fix, a 2022 Secure Code Warrior survey revealed that Application Security (AppSec) was sorely under-prioritized by development teams: “67% of developers admitted that they routinely left known vulnerabilities and exploits in their code,” according to the survey.
These deliberate oversights were due to reasons ranging from the limitations of tight deadlines to prioritization of functionality over security. Despite this variability, one consistent take away from the survey was that developers lack the right training and expertise to assess the severity of a problem and create an actionable solution.
Security providers need to break this vicious cycle of only providing developers with security tools that are easily integrated into their existing workflows, without educating them on what they are scanning for and how that will impact their code. Developers need a security platform that will not only provide them with a market-leading security tool, but also teach them to solve vulnerabilities faster, show them how to prevent vulnerabilities altogether and foster a community where they can continue to hone their code security skills with other like-minded developers.
That’s where Contrast Security comes in!
As developers have continued to take more responsibility for AppSec, we recognized the need for security education that’s relevant, easy to understand, actionable and engaging for developers. As such, Contrast is launching two new initiatives, Contrast Secure Code Learning Hub and Contrast Community, to nurture a growing community of developers and teach them how to secure code confidently for free.
Contrast Secure Code Learning Hub
Contrast Secure Code Learning Hub teaches developers how to stay secure with interactive lessons that explore vulnerabilities across a variety of languages and ecosystems. It provides lessons targeted toward developers who want to learn more about specific vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.
Learn Structure
- Explain what the vulnerability is.
- Demonstrate how the vulnerability would be executed.
- Provide a deep-dive into why the vulnerability occurred.
- Learn how to mitigate it.
Learn Coverage
Contrast Secure Code Learning Hub will offer many lessons covering several different languages and existing OWASP topics. Currently available modules are focusing on the JavaScript and Java programming languages. They also include lessons on several topics from the OWASP top 10.
Contrast — Developer Community
The Contrast Developer Community will be a safe and inclusive space for devs to gain knowledge about AppSec whether they are new to the topic or have been working in the security space for years. Our community aims to support all types of developers, including existing Contrast users — paid and free — and independent developers motivated to learn about integrating security into their development practices.The Contrast Developer Community is the right place for you!
Start your secure code journey with Contrast Security
