Security has defined the premise of several wars in our lifetime. It has established the bonds and bounds of national relations and continues to impact political rhetoric. But security does not begin on a national level without first implementing it on the civilian. This extends to the corporations and organisations that require guarding to protect state secrets, loyalties and other commodities of high value. Technology has become greatly integrated in security and how we define it. For several reasons, the computerization of our firms has engaged us in more protection than before. The same way one continuously inspects the work of their flat roofer to assess the integrity of the structure is the same way that security development continuously and routinely updates and remodifies itself as a preventative measure against any malicious intent.
The security development lifecycle was established by the philanthropist Bill Gates in 2002, when he determined that most companies and firms go through a predictable cyclic order of system security. Coined SDL, it involves a combination of 7 phases. This was an important step in software development for several reasons, but in summation, it pointed out the weaknesses of security firms. In AI and IT industries, software is a high-valued commodity that requires the best protection and surveillance to prevent viral attacks, hacking and several other types of aggressive behaviour that may compromise the material. However, this can also be extended to financial institutes, such as banks and licensed moneylenders that guard personal data and wealth.
This, in simplicity, is the 7-part security development cycle Bill gates posed when he created it for Microsoft
- Core Security Training
- Requirements
- Design
- Implementation
- Verification
- Release
- Response
These seven steps summated the critical weak points of software security and, therefore, aimed to buttress their protective systems. As technology advances it is a requirement to ensure that the previous technologies that guard and secure information are replaced and updated because protective software is ever-evolving to be better at protecting itself and its data. The world is finding more and more that protective measures in technology are not faultless, but they are less prone to human error, and better equipped for security.
Technology advancements in security development have made a huge impact in our understanding of security and its potency.
The first phase is now often termed as ‘Planning’ in modern system development, and this involves understanding the application or the software and how it functions. By doing so the developers are able to identify when something is wrong, or out of place, because familiarity gives way to understanding. Developers recognise the faults of their systems or the extent of their abilities and predict possible problems and where they may come from. This leads to the second phase (Requirements) which is also called the Analytics Stage, in which developers identify requirements of the prototypes. They need to perfect the system for the end user and decide where the system is lacking and where it requires more attention.
The Design stages are next. The interface is what we, as the users of the software, see, and it is required to be easy to follow and ultimately simple enough for us to be able to use. This includes the databases and several other components of the application. For the design, the code is written. The code is the ‘DNA’ of the application and its software. This is where it is able to comprehend tasks and act accordingly. With technology continuing to increase in intricacy, we often receive notifications on our phones to update our devices for this very purpose. New software attempts to eliminate old ‘bugs’ that the previous software was either unable to detect or could not correct in its code.
In testing and Implementing, a thorough test-run of the software is completed. Here, the programmers or developers gain a better understanding of how their programme and software is working and how the finished product looks to the end-user. Suggestions are made and alternatives are suggested as a means to better the software. Technology has greatly increased the speed and accuracy of the testing phase for developers to get ahead of problems and fix any problems easily before the programme is let out to the public.
For the Verification Process, these have grown to include large technologies in some instances. There are retina scanners, fingerprint readers and many more advanced anti-hacking systems that are continuously being modified to read facial recognition better for swifter action. On our phones we have the same functions– face recognition and fingerprint access capabilities.
The Release and Response are, then, dependent on the users and how they receive the data they are now currently using. This includes feedback on problems such as bugs and malfunctions. The advancement of technology is ensuring that software is built in a secure environment while still, in itself, providing security measures against attack.
