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CISA Targets Software Security with ‘Bad Practices’ Crackdown

Copyright & Fact Checker 29 October 2024

2024-10-29

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is stepping up its efforts to improve software security by focusing on eliminating harmful coding practices. This move follows the successful launch of its secure-by-design initiative, which has already secured commitments from over 230 software manufacturers.

CISA’s latest initiative aims to address specific software development practices that pose significant security risks. The agency has identified three key areas of concern:

1. Product Properties: This includes issues like default passwords, memory-unsafe languages, and insecure user input handling.
2. Security Features: The lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and insufficient intrusion detection capabilities are major concerns.
3. Organizational Processes and Policies: Timely vulnerability disclosure and effective security practices are essential for software security.

By addressing these issues, CISA hopes to significantly reduce the number of vulnerabilities in software products. The agency is urging software manufacturers to prioritize the use of memory-safe languages and to make security features like MFA difficult to disable.

What Undercode Says:

CISA’s focus on eliminating “bad practices” is a significant step forward in improving software security. By addressing these fundamental issues, the agency is taking a proactive approach to mitigating cyber threats. The emphasis on memory-safe languages is particularly important, as these languages can help to reduce the number of vulnerabilities that are caused by memory-related errors.

However, it is important to note that secure-by-design is not a silver bullet. While it can help to reduce the number of vulnerabilities in software products, it is not a guarantee of security. Organizations must also implement strong security practices, such as regular security testing and patching, to protect their systems.

CISA’s efforts to raise awareness of software security best practices are commendable. By working with software manufacturers to improve their development processes, the agency can help to make the software supply chain more secure.

References:

Initially Reported By: Cyberscoop.com
https://www.gadgetgurus.com
Wikipedia: https://www.wikipedia.org
Undercode AI: https://ai.undercodetesting.com

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