Lean and (Prepared for) Mean: Application Security Program Essentials

TASSCC 2011 Annual Conference 1

Lean and (Prepared for) Mean:Application Security Program Essentials

Philip J. Beyer - Texas Education [email protected]

John B. Dickson - Denim [email protected]

Copyright 2011 by Texas Education Agency. All rights reserved.


Overview

• Background• Trends• Essentials• Roadmap



About

• Phil Beyer– Information Security Officer– Consulting background

• John Dickson– Application security industry leader

• TEA– ~700 employees– ~1200 school districts– ~5 million students



Application Security – What? Why?

• In Brief– Web applications can be attacked– Attacks are different from network or OS levels– Becoming a significant attack vector

• Impact– Attackers bypass traditional infrastructure security

controls– Users are a target as well as data



Trends

• At TEA– Applications created regularly and retired slowly– Ability to outsource remediation decreased due to

funding limitations• In the Industry– Attacks are increasingly sophisticated and

automated– Remediation costs increase in later phases of the

development cycle



EssentialsWhere Did TEA Start

• Application Security Program established– Some policy and procedure– Initial training and exposure to concepts– Historically siloed approach

• Outsourcing for subject matter expertise– Veracode– Denim Group



EssentialsThe Premise

• Some things you Don’t Need• Some things you Do Need• Some things you Just Don’t Need Yet



EssentialsWhat You Don’t Need

• An Expensive Scanner– A Security Process for scanning is more important– Simple (free) scanners will get you started– Buy the software later




• A Complicated Scoring/Tracking Tool– A Security Process for profiling is more important– Risk ranking doesn’t have to be hard– Keeping track of your applications can be simple– Buy the software later




• A Dedicated Application Security Team– A Security Process for testing is more important– Leverage your existing QA and Testing team– Simple security testing will get you started– Build and train your testing capability gradually




• A Perfect SDLC– Get started with what you have now– Update your policies and procedures as you go– Don’t try to drop in “The Secure SDLC” all at once



EssentialsWhat You Do Need

• A Champion–That’s You!– Understand the problem– Communicate the risk– Work with the business




• A Team that Gets It– Managers– Developers– Testers– Security




• Good Training– Resources exist, some are free– The trainer is important– Attacks evolve, so should your training




• Expert Help– Technical questions will arise– Some vendors will dispute vulnerabilities– Be sure your team can consult with experts




• A Roadmap to Maturity– Use an established maturity model• OpenSAMM• BSIMM

– Design a roadmap to get to maturity– Don’t try to do it all at once



RoadmapUse a Maturity Model

• OpenSAMM - Software Assurance Maturity Model– Maturity levels 1 thru 4– Governance

• Strategy & Metrics (2), Policy & Compliance (3), Education & Guidance (3)– Construction

• Threat Assessment (3), Security Requirements (3), Secure Architecture (3)– Verification

• Design Review (2), Code Review (2), Security Testing (3)– Deployment

• Vulnerability Management (3), Environment Hardening (3), Operational Enablement (3)



Roadmap – Phase 1Governance

• Estimate overall business risk profile• Build and maintain an application security

program roadmap• Build and maintain compliance guidelines• Conduct technical security awareness training• Build and maintain technical guidelines



Roadmap – Phase 1Construction

• Derive security requirements based on business functionality

• Evaluate security and compliance guidance for requirements



Roadmap – Phase 1Verification

• Derive test cases from known security requirements

• Conduct penetration testing on software releases



Roadmap – Phase 1Deployment

• Identify point of contact for security issues• Create informal security response team(s)



Resources

• OWASP – Open Web Application Security Project– http://www.owasp.org/

• OpenSAMM - Software Assurance Maturity Model– http://www.opensamm.org/

• Denim Group – Remediation Resource Center– http://www.denimgroup.com/remediation/


http://www.owasp.org/

http://www.opensamm.org/

http://www.denimgroup.com/remediation/


Questions?


Documents

Lean and (Prepared for) Mean: Application Security Program Essentials