Cybersecurity and development teams may seem to have competing interests, but the truth is that reconciliation between the two is not only possible — it’s mission-critical.
Tension between developers and cybersecurity teams can feel unavoidable. Dev teams race to keep up with rapidly-advancing technology to make sure their applications remain relevant in a highly competitive market. Meanwhile, security teams face increasing pressure from consumers to secure their data, and won’t let anything reach the public before testing it for any and every possible vulnerability.
As a result of these opposing drives, developers often see cybersecurity as a frustrating bottleneck. At the same time, security teams resent the extra work developers create for them by cutting corners on secure code in order to meet tight deadlines. But when these two teams aren’t on the same page, it jeopardizes the entire organization — unsecured code can lead to a data breach and a PR nightmare, while slowed development puts companies at a competitive disadvantage.
Fortunately, with the proper planning, it is possible to align the goals of your dev and security teams, in turn ensuring that your company won’t have to compromise speed or safety.
Finding Common Ground
Without the necessary groundwork, communication, and mutual understanding, it’s inevitable that dev and security will butt heads over differing goals. But there’s no real reason for disagreement! Both teams should be dedicated to the shared objective of supporting robust applications that are safe for consumers to use.
But if these two teams are ever to reconcile their differences, the onus lies on the larger organization to implement the framework necessary to facilitate collaboration. This means that product and business leaders must establish that cybersecurity is a top priority and should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds — including developers, who may not have been trained in cybersecurity best practices.
Businesses can also see positive results in streamlining communications between the two teams by intentionally bringing them into closer contact with one another through regular meetings and brainstorming sessions. Once they begin working together more often, dev and security can develop a deeper understanding of each other’s specific challenges and priorities.
A Qualified Liaison
To get an entire enterprise on the same page about cybersecurity, the most important tool to deploy is education. And Turn-key Technologies (TTI) has been educating employees at every level and in every department on security best practices for over 20 years. It’s important to remember that nobody, no matter what their position in the organization, wants to put their digital assets at risk. It takes the proper knowledge base to actively and proactively combat every threat your enterprise faces.
One of the most effective means of continuing developers’ security education is designating a security champion to help advise them on best practices. Rather than placing an employee in an unfamiliar role, it may be easiest to outsource this responsibility to the experts at TTI. With a multitude of certifications and decades of experience, we’ll help train your employees on network security and ensure that they have both the knowledge and tools necessary to protect consumer data, reconciling the security/dev divide once and for all.