Several months ago, Bill Gates announced that security would be the number one priority at Microsoft. Several groups at Microsoft, such as the Trusted Computing Group and the Secure Windows Initiative strive to improve security in Microsoft products and ultimately improve security for individuals and corporations worldwide. These initiatives are not surprising, considering the major vulnerabilities found recently in Windows XP, Internet Information Server, Internet Explorer, and Outlook. Due to the popularity of Microsoft products and their market share, the vulnerabilities have caused havoc all across the Internet. If Microsoft, with it's billions of dollars of resources and talent, has all these security issues, how do you handle the problem of building trusted systems.
As any seasoned security professional will tell you, it's impossible to build bug-free, vulnerability free software. The resources required to create such software will be infinite, and financial analysts don't like seeing that on a balance sheet. The name of the game in the security industry is risk mitigation. That is, reducing the risk to an acceptable level. This article will provide a brief overview of some of the key issues of secure coding. It will identify some common mistakes made when developing software that lead to security vulnerabilities. This is followed by a list of best practices that, if followed religiously, will help you avoid 90% of all security vulnerabilities. The article concludes with a list of resources that will aid in your quest to build more secure software.
News: Security Sources
