CSC: Software Security Essentials

Overview

This course will be useful to programmers and cybersecurity practitioners who are looking to improve their skills and knowledge of secure software development. You will begin by identifying security requirements and expectations, factors that undermine software security, and common vulnerabilities in software. Then, you'll eliminate those vulnerabilities, which are due to either software defects, human factors, or process shortcomings. You'll also apply general principles for secure design and design software to counter specific threats. This is the first course in a multi-course Specialization. All of the courses in this Specialization require that you run free versions of Python, PyCharm, and Node.js on a Windows system. The course setup instructions provided in the first module of this course go into more detail about the hardware and software requirements.

Syllabus

Identifying the Need for Security in Your Software Projects

As a software developer, your job can be complex and demanding. You must satisfy customers, meet business requirements and deadlines, and work cooperatively with other people on the project—all the while handling the complex technical challenges of rapidly evolving development tools, programming languages, frameworks, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The complex interactions among all of the components involved in a project can be difficult to manage at times.

Handling Vulnerabilities

Before you focus on specific vulnerabilities and tactics for dealing with them, there are some general strategies that you can employ to prevent vulnerabilities from creeping into your software.

Designing for Security

The process you use to design your software should reflect what is important to you, your customers, and other project stakeholders. Following this rationale, if software security is important to you, it should be an important part of your design processes.