In today’s day and age it’s easy to agree that businesses need to do more to protect themselves from cyber attacks. New reports of massive, damaging hacks are a daily occurrence. Business owners and technologists are wondering if it will ever stop. Could it be we have overlooked the most fundamental step in defending critical digital assets? Read on to find out how application security training through e-learning is an absolute requirement for all Web Developers, IT Managers and Technologists.
Easy to use, Easy to hack?
Everyday technology becomes more and more accessible for us all. We all know that even young children can intuitively figure out how to use a modern app or website. But behind all of these user-friendly systems are technology layers of staggering complexity.
For example, a typical website lives in an ecosystem consisting of an operating system, a web server, an application server, database servers, runtime environments, multiple web frameworks, 3rd party services, open-source libraries and of course custom-written code.
Professional developers then balance frequently changing business requirements and weave the appropriate technologies together. Generally, development teams focus on getting a core set of business requirements satisfied, and then gradually add additional functionality over time.
In terms of functionality, this system has worked very well and web applications provide a breathtaking array of world-changing services and experiences. However, the relentless onslaught of successful cyber attacks is clear evidence that security is major problem, which has put all of our most sensitive information at risk.
Training Developers – Often Overlooked
Businesses spend an enormous amount of time and effort to locate talented individuals and teams around the globe. Interviews are focused on past experience and the ability to build functional and fast websites. However, security is often underrepresented or completely omitted from most interview questions. Companies also frequently forget that ongoing application security training is a must for development teams.
Developers need ongoing guidance and information on how to code security in the face of evolving threats and ever-changing technologies. Managers need training so they ask the right questions and can judge the appropriate level of security for each project and ensure security is included along with other business requirements.
Maximize Effectiveness
Providing training is one thing, but maximizing effectiveness is a separate challenge. Security issues are often confusing by their very nature. Organizations must ensure the training is clear, illustrative, memorable and current. Developers should be able to remember the lessons, visualize the problems and most importantly, clearly understand how to fix vulnerabilities.
To this end, KMI Learning and Infrared Security have teamed up to develop and distribute the highest quality application security training for developers and managers. This training is already used by Fortune 500 companies around the globe, and stands in distinction for clarity and usability.
Each lesson is professionally animated to make the lessons as memorable as possible. Role-specific and technology-specific lessons provide meaningful training for management and technical staff. The content is curated to ensure your team has immediate access to the most relevant and updated information. An outstanding example of this is our frequently updated OWASP Top 10 training for developers and managers. ll of our e-learning content is hosted on the web so developers can start training at anytime with nothing to install or maintain.
Take Action
Our mission is to make the world’s most effective and accessible application security training materials. Application security training is a primary and key activity that all organizations must perform, which in turn enables other security activities throughout your organization’s system development lifecycle. We encourage all organizations to take action now regarding this fundamental and essential layer of defense.
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