Secure Code Development Training: How to Reduce Risk & Build Secure Software

Many of today’s most devastating data breaches share a common root cause: a lack of secure code development training. Despite advances in cybersecurity, insecure coding practices continue to expose organizations to unnecessary risk. 

Under tight deadlines, developers often prioritize speed over security, introducing vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit. Without proper secure code development training, teams may unknowingly create weaknesses that lead to costly breaches. 

The best way to reduce this risk is to build a security-first development culture. By implementing structured training programs, leveraging industry frameworks, and motivating developers to follow secure coding best practices, organizations can significantly improve software security while maintaining efficiency. 

This blog post explores: 

• Why secure code development training is essential 

• Industry-leading frameworks and resources for training developers 

• Strategies to balance speed, quality, and security in development 
• How to motivate developers to adopt secure coding best practices 

The importance of secure code development training  

The projects that gain business value need to have focus to move the business and customers forward, however, there needs to be a balance, to ensure we are training, motivating, and governing secure coding practices so we are not sabotaging our goals. 

In the past, developers were evaluated on Lines Of Code (LOC) that they produced and speed to market to gain customer favor and gain market share. As speed was the primary focus, it also introduced risk of actually missing requirements or introducing inefficiencies.  

Methodologies changed to include speed, efficiency, and quality (Software Quality Assurance – SQA) which moved development toward a focus on the software process and realization that quality coding practices needed to be baked into the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). 

Based on the major data breaches involving insecure code, which is often preventable, a number of standards and processes have been developed to help organizations train developers on secure coding practices.  

We’ll start by looking at some key resources to help your developers master secure coding. 

Secure code development training and education 

Begin with a policy on application development to create a baseline of expectations for development activities within your organization. 

Training and education should be in alignment with your policy, which could include: 

• Methodologies such as Secure Development Operations (DevSecOps) to improve automation, monitoring, and application of security at every phase of the software development lifecycle (see the U.S. Department of Defense DevSecOps Fundamentals Guidebook to learn more.)  

• Frameworks such as NIST Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) SP 800-218 specifically address software in detail.  

• Organizational alignment such as: 

• • SANS point out the top 25 most dangerous software errors and how to avoid and remediate them 

• • SAFECode, an organization designed as a community for developers to seek training, guidance on secure coding practices, and developer community discussion groups
  • OWASP, a community project that provides a dynamic list of the top 10 application security risks along with recommendations for secure coding methods to mitigate them
  • Cloud Security Alliance – CSA, an organization that provides awareness and tips toward secure cloud development that recently included secure AI development; they also offer a Star Program for company certification on cloud security posture levels 

How to balance speed, quality, and security in code development 

An organization needs to determine the prioritization on code development. 

Priorities could be broken down into three categories: 

• Speed: Develop code and complete fixes in the fastest amount of time possible 

• Quality: Ensure the code not only meets expectations/specifications, but it is also easy to maintain and understand, is efficient, and is sustainable 

• Security: Align actions with secure coding practices 

Ideally, all three are a priority. With code repositories and AI code assistants, speed can be achieved relatively easily while providing time to ensure quality and security. 

If we spend the appropriate amount of time upfront and throughout the development process to ensure the code meets or ideally exceeds quality and security standards, we will end up with less time and resources needed to fix bugs and remediate insecure code while reducing our overall risk. 

This process and prioritization needs to transfer to customer understanding and expectations to receive secure quality code rather than really fast insecure code that doesn’t quite meet requirements. 

What motivates developers to prioritize secure code? 

Regardless of what we put in a policy or training we provide to our developers, being a previous developer myself, there are a few main areas that should be considered to help actually motivate secure code development as a practice. 

Rewards: 

• Are we providing the appropriate rewards for developers that produce fast, high-quality code that has the least amount of code vulnerabilities when scanned and/or pen tested? 

• Is this reflected in their raises, bonuses, evaluations? 

Penalties: 

•  Are we enforcing appropriate penalties for developers who produce fast code but lack high quality and have the highest number of vulnerabilities when scanned or pen tested? 

• Is this reflected in their raises, bonuses, evaluations? 

Having read this blog post, you may be several steps closer to protecting your organization from the high risk of developing insecure code and the introduction of a potential data breach as a result than you were 10 minutes ago before you read it. 

However, there’s more. 

One of the best ways to ensure secure code development is to train and educate, make it a priority, and properly motivate developers to follow policy and actually apply what they have been trained on. With this shift toward a more secure minded culture, the rewards will far outweigh the costs. 

At PCI Energy Solutions, we’re committed to fostering secure development practices that protect businesses and their customers. I’ll be sharing my expertise on this topic at SecureWorld Boston 2025, offering actionable insights to help organizations build a security-first culture. Ready to strengthen your secure coding practices? Visit our Cybersecurity page to learn how we help our clients implement secure development practices and reduce risk.