ISO 27001 Control 8.25: Secure Development Life Cycle
Control 8.25 requires organizations to establish and enforce security rules throughout their entire software development process. For SMBs, this means integrating security checks from code commit to production deployment. Without structured SDLC controls, vulnerabilities slip through development and expose your systems to preventable breaches.
What this means
This control mandates that security requirements, threat modeling, secure coding standards, and security testing become mandatory practices at every stage of software development. Whether you build custom applications or manage third-party integrations, you must document and enforce rules that prevent insecure code from reaching production. This includes secure design reviews, code review processes, dependency scanning, and penetration testing before release.
How to comply
- 1.Define and document secure coding standards tailored to your technology stack
- 2.Establish a threat modeling process for new applications and major changes
- 3.Implement mandatory code review procedures with security-focused checklists
- 4.Integrate automated security testing (SAST/DAST) into your CI/CD pipeline
- 5.Require dependency scanning to identify vulnerable third-party libraries
- 6.Conduct security testing and penetration tests before production deployment
- 7.Document all SDLC security requirements and maintain evidence of compliance
- 8.Train developers on secure coding practices annually
Evidence auditors look for
- Secure development policy document with version history
- Threat modeling documentation for applications developed in the past 12 months
- Code review logs showing security reviews with timestamps and findings
- SAST/DAST scan reports from your CI/CD platform (GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins)
- Dependency vulnerability reports from tools like Snyk or Dependabot
- Penetration test reports from pre-production deployments
- Developer security training records and completion certificates
- Security requirements traceability matrix linking design to testing
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
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