Don’t freak out now, but your Internet of Things devices might not be super secure.
This is because the software for many of these devices (and other software as well) is created without incorporating the latest secure coding practices. But Cybrary, the Greenbelt-based provider of free online cybersecurity courses, wants to change that. Or, at least, the company wants to get people talking.
To this end, Cybrary has named February #SecureCodingMonth.
February is #SecureCodingMonth 2 new FREE courses on creating secure code on @cybraryIT https://t.co/vVigEzNGK5
— Cybrary (@cybraryIT) February 1, 2016
Secure coding, in a nutshell, is “coding your products that you’re building in a manner that considers some of the more prevalent vulnerabilities,”Cybrary cofounder Ryan Corey told Technical.ly. Apparently, many coders aren’t taught to think about this.
Why isn’t secure coding already a big thing? Corey told Technical.ly that there are a couple issues. First up, a lot of traditional computer science degrees and coding courses don’t teach secure coding. Corey says this oversight is likely due to the fact that cybersecurity is a fairly new field, and the fact that is changes quickly and constantly.
So Cybrary is stepping in to fill the skills gap with two new courses — one targeted toward individual developers and the other for management, or those overseeing a software development lifecycle. The courses aren’t language-specific, Corey told Technical.ly, rather they’re focused on “generic principles that should be applied” to any software.
And Cybrary thinks now is a really good time to get talking about secure coding. “Obviously it’s no secret that the Internet of Things is upon us,” Corey said, “people who are building those products and shipping that code aren’t considering [secure coding] in their software development lifecycle the way that they should be.”
#SecureCodingMonth is Cybrary’s effort to get devs to start considering security.
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