National Cybersecurity Strategy Requires Orgs to Rethink Software Quality
Software development is a global effort, with DevOps teams often dispersed around the world. According to Statista, there will be over 27.7 million developers worldwide in 2023. That’s a lot of engineers creating millions of lines of code each day, all of which are orchestrated within an enterprise’s DevOps workflow.
With large amounts of code authored by teams under pressure to deliver with high velocity, it’s inevitable that issues will arise and fall through the cracks. Errors and bugs in code can create vulnerabilities that may be exploited, leading to security breaches that can expose confidential customer data, result in financial losses and significantly damage an organization’s reputation.
For example, a technical glitch caused flight cancellations and severe delays for thousands of Southwest Airlines passengers in December 2022. This catastrophic failure was traced to outdated, poor-quality code introduced into the airline’s reservation system, causing frustration and chaos and preventing customers from checking in, booking flights and managing reservations. While most code vulnerabilities are found, resolved and disclosed to improve security, the ideal scenario is to have practices in place that prevent them from existing in the codebase in the first place.
Given the magnitude of cybersecurity challenges today, on July 13, 2023 the Biden Administration published the Implementation Plan for the National Cybersecurity Strategy, announced back in March 2023. The initiative called on Congress to develop software liability legislation to hold software companies liable for data losses and harm resulting from product vulnerabilities, should proper precautions not have been taken. The plan, which was called a “living document,” details over 65 high-impact federal initiatives across five pillars focused on increasing cybersecurity investment.
Implications for Software Companies
The stakes for software companies have risen considerably. They can no longer absolve themselves of liability for the software they create and are mandated to prioritize the development of higher quality, more secure software products and services. In addition, a rapidly emerging element that must be considered alongside this is the use of generative AI tools for code development. Companies need to be vigilant and have a sound, ethical strategy in place to ensure that all AI-generated code meets or exceeds the quality and security requirements demanded of all code. If the quality of AI-generated code isn’t ensured upfront, we could potentially find ourselves in a coding crisis, requiring a substantial cleanup effort to establish code quality and the integrity of software systems.
To address all of this—and especially the third pillar of the cybersecurity strategy, which cites a key objective to “develop legislation establishing a liability regime for software products and services”—companies should adopt a clean code approach. When a clean code state is achieved, organizations can feel confident that they have a well-structured, consistent codebase that’s easy to read and maintain and that’s robust and secure enough to withstand market demands.
What is Clean Code?
Maintainable, reliable, secure, accessible and sustainable applications are essential in business, but most organizations accumulate substantial technical debt as a result of poor software development practices. To get the most value and impact out of software, developers and development teams must operationalize the clean code imperative which empowers developers to create software that’s free of security vulnerabilities and is least likely to be affected by potential security breaches. It helps organizations reduce operational, reputational and security risks, increase software longevity, and minimize application time and costs so that their application can remain a long-term asset.
A clean code strategy enhances developer efficiency by accelerating software development, simplifying maintenance over time, reducing debugging efforts and removing bad code and poor coding practices. It optimizes the DevOps workflow, minimizing risk and leading to an overall better user experience. With this approach, developers can be assured that they’re taking “reasonable precautions to secure their software,” per the National Cybersecurity Strategy.
Clean as you Code to Deliver Secure Code
An organized, properly documented codebase reduces the chances of vulnerabilities entering code and makes it easier to detect and fix security issues promptly. To achieve this clean code state, companies should implement the clean-as-you-code methodology, enabling developers and their organizations to optimize the quality of their codebase by focusing on code that’s added or changed. This can be leveraged across an organization regardless of software maturity, level of developer experience and internal complexity.
Clean as you code is a simple yet powerful methodology that progressively improves the overall quality of the entire codebase with minimal cost and effort. Putting emphasis on code that’s newly introduced or modified enables the identification and resolution of bugs early before they become larger problems. This includes adhering to secure code standards, conducting thorough code reviews and performing regular security testing throughout the development cycle. By integrating security considerations into the development workflow and tackling them upfront, the burden on security and development teams significantly decreases.
When companies are confident that they’re developing high-quality, reliable and maintainable code, they can be confident that their software applications are resilient to bugs and vulnerabilities and that they’re supporting business goals and customer needs.
Clean Code is Essential for Future Resilience
Adopting a clean code strategy helps mitigate threats, eliminates vulnerabilities and prolongs the lifespan of applications. New legislation enforcing software quality makes clean code essential for reducing the risk of delivering and operating vulnerable software. Vulnerabilities can have a significant financial impact, costing an average of $3.86 million per data breach incident. This highlights the importance of code-level quality and security for a business’s bottom line.
Clean code is a sound business strategy and also an ethical responsibility in this era of heightened threats and regulatory pressures. Following the clean-as-you-code methodology, software companies can secure a resilient digital future, reduce legal risk and maintain a competitive edge. Prioritizing code quality is crucial in today’s fast-paced development landscape to mitigate risks, save time and money, boost productivity and confidence and ensure long-term success.
