Secure Coding Certification

A programmer's ability to produce secure code is very important.

With the growing network dependence of many computer applications, insecure code can put customer's private -- namely, financial -- data at risk. There are a number of training certifications for programmers to learn secure coding techniques.

SANS SSI

The SANS Software Security Institute (SSI) offers a number of training programs in secure coding, including the GIAC Secure Software Programmer (GSSP) certification. The certifications are language specific. Consequently, the certification will include the languages in which the programmer is certified. For example, GSPP-J means that the programmer is GSPP certified in the Java language.

.NET

SANS also offers a certification specific to Microsoft's .NET and ASP.NET Frameworks. The certification course covers the technical architecture of the frameworks, as well as defensive coding techniques specific to these frameworks.

CERT SCALe

In addition to programmer certification, there are also programs that certify the specific code a programmer produces follows secure coding practices. One such program is CERT's SCALe certification, which assesses given source code against multiple secure coding standards.

References

• CERT.org: SCALe
• SANS-SSI.org: GIAC Secure Software Programmer (GSSP) Certification
• SANS.org: Secure Coding in .NET: Developing Defensible Applications