Software code constitutes the heart of how an application works. The applications that process, store and transmit a business’ information assets. The integrity of that software’s code is critical to its security. If the code has vulnerabilities, these flaws could potentially be exploited by threat actors to compromise the entire application. This could result in unauthorised access, disruption, modification, or deletion of the asset. So, this is where the game is played. Good cyber security begins here – on the code level.
The outsourced service is delivered by our trained and seasoned secure coding experts, using a portfolio of commercial and proprietary tools, and manually verifying the findings. It includes a granular application risk assessment based on a comprehensive review of your design documentation. This is not just an automated scan but a deep dive into your code by independent specialists driven to discover hidden vulnerabilities to be addressed prior to launch.
Conducting secure code reviews is probably the single most effective action you can take to ensure the security integrity of your software applications and significantly reduce the risk of a breach.
Our methodical, step-by-step approach is adaptable to all software coding frameworks and fully scalable to address all project sizes. The secure code review methodology is comprised of six components:
The first step is to understand the application. Risk Crew will typically review all design documentation and artefacts associated with the application to confirm and document the following:
Next, Risk Crew will identify the volume and sensitivity of the information assets to be processed, stored, or transmitted by the application in addition to any other considerations such as intellectual property, or connecting infrastructure to enumerate potential threats such as:
Risk Crew enumerates specific security vulnerabilities associated with threats using the OWASP Checklist.
Upon completing the threat assessment, Risk Crew will then run a collection of both commercial scanning tools and in-house generated scripts against the application to identify vulnerabilities against confirmed threats.
All high and critical threat vulnerabilities identified in the automated scanning are then manually verified by a Risk Crew security engineer.
This step of the process is essential for validating the automated findings and leaving assumptions unchallenged.
All manually confirmed, vulnerabilities are then manually exploited by Risk Crew security engineers to provide documented “proof of exploit” and for engineers to identify and confirm the applicable remediate action.
This step is critical as it confirms the actual attack surface associated with the application.
Finally, Risk Crew will document a detailed report of their findings and remedial recommendations. The report specifies each vulnerability found, its level of severity, the description, the specific location where it exists, visual evidence of its exploitation and step-by-step instructions for its remediation.
Risk Crew security engineers possess over 30 years of hands-on skills and experience in conducting secure code reviews. It’s our core competence. We: think deeply, question assumptions, determine cause and effect and always deliver measurable results. That’s just the way we roll. Ultimately, if you are not happy, with our services, you are not charged. Who else does that?
Risk Crew follows best practices including ISO 27001, PCI, Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR
ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certified
Consultants hold CISSP, CISA, CISM and CRISC certifications
Risk Crew has over 30 years of practical knowledge
A secure code review is a process for examining software code to identify vulnerabilities which if exploited, could compromise the security integrity of the software.
The objective of a review is to find any security flaws in the application associated with its features, functionality and design to verify their root causes – and fix them to make certain they cannot be exploited. Sounds simple but with the ever-increasing complexity of applications and the introduction of changing technologies, this is not always easy to achieve.
A secure code review process entails professional security engineers assessing the integrity of the code through the use of automated tools and databases of recognised coding flaws and security weaknesses.
The length of time a code review takes is directly dependent on the language, length and complexity of the application under assessment. The firm reviewing your code should give you an estimate prior to engagement and confirm this before commencing the review.
In many industries, including the healthcare and payment verticals, secure code reviews are a mandatory part of the compliance requirement. More significantly though, a security code review will significantly reduce the attack surface of an application and reduce costs of remediation required to address the security vulnerabilities post-launch.
In the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) process a secure code review is typically conducted at the end of the Development Phase to ensure time for cost-effective remediation of any coding flaws identified. Alternatively, before the launch of the application to ensure the vulnerabilities are not exposed.