Secure coding standards are formalized sets of rules, guidelines, and best practices that developers follow to write software resistant to security vulnerabilities. These standards address common vulnerability patterns -- injection flaws, buffer overflows, authentication weaknesses, and cryptographic misuse -- by establishing mandatory coding practices that prevent security defects from entering the codebase during development rather than discovering them through testing or incidents.
Organizations adopt or develop secure coding standards based on frameworks such as OWASP Secure Coding Practices, CERT Secure Coding Standards, and language-specific guides (Microsoft SDL, Oracle Secure Coding Guidelines for Java). Standards are organized by vulnerability category and programming language, providing specific rules with code examples showing both vulnerable and secure implementations. Enforcement occurs through multiple mechanisms: automated static analysis tools scan code against rule sets during development and in CI/CD pipelines, code review checklists ensure reviewers verify security-critical patterns, and IDE plugins provide real-time feedback as developers write code. Training programs familiarize developers with the standards and the vulnerabilities they prevent. Metrics track compliance rates, common violations, and trends over time to identify areas requiring additional training or tooling. Standards evolve based on emerging threats, new vulnerability research, and lessons learned from security incidents.
Vulnerabilities are dramatically cheaper to fix during development than after deployment. Studies consistently show that remediation costs increase by 10x to 100x as defects progress from development through testing to production. Secure coding standards shift security left, embedding prevention into the development process rather than relying on testing to catch defects after the fact. Organizations with mature secure coding programs experience fewer vulnerabilities, faster development cycles, and reduced security incident response costs.
CDA positions secure coding standards within VSD as a foundational development security control. Theater missions help organizations select appropriate standards for their technology stack, integrate automated enforcement into development workflows, and build developer training programs that make secure coding a habitual practice rather than a compliance checkbox.