Application Security Weekly (audio)

A successful strategy in appsec is to build platforms with defaults and designs that ease the burden of security choices for developers. But there's an important difference between expecting (or requiring!) developers to use a platform and building a platform that developers embrace. Julia Knecht shares her experience in building platforms with an attention to developer needs, developer experience, and security requirements. She brings attention to the product management skills and feedback loops that make paved roads successful -- as well as the areas where developers may still need or choose their own alternatives. After all, the impact of a paved road isn't in its creation, it's in its adoption. Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-341

AI is more than LLMs. Machine learning algorithms have been part of infosec solutions for a long time. For appsec practitioners, a key concern is always going to be how to evaluate the security of software or a system. In some cases, it doesn't matter if a human or an LLM generated code -- the code needs to be reviewed for common flaws and design problems. But the creation of MCP servers and LLM-based agents is also adding a concern about what an unattended or autonomous piece of software is doing. Sohrob Kazerounian gives us context on how LLMs are designed, what to expect from them, and where they pose risk and reward to modern software engineering. Resources https://www.vectra.ai/research Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-340

What are some appsec basics? There's no monolithic appsec role. Broadly speaking, appsec tends to branch into engineering or compliance paths, each with different areas of focus despite having shared vocabularies and the (hopefully!) shared goal of protecting software, data, and users. The better question is, "What do you want to secure?" We discuss the Cybersecurity Skills Framework put together by the OpenSSF and the Linux Foundation and how you might prepare for one of its job families. The important basics aren't about memorizing lists or technical details, but demonstrating experience in working with technologies, understanding how they can fail, and being able to express concerns, recommendations, and curiosity about their security properties. Resources: https://cybersecurityframework.io https://owasp.org/www-project-cheat-sheets/ https://blog.cloudflare.com/rfc-8446-aka-tls-1-3/ https://aflplus.plus/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/ Visit https:

Appsec still deals with ancient vulns like SQL injection and XSS. And now LLMs are generating code along side humans. Sandy Carielli and Janet Worthington join us once again to discuss what all this new code means for appsec practices. On a positive note, the prevalence of those ancient vulns seems to be diminishing, but the rising use of LLMs is expanding a new (but not very different) attack surface. We look at where orgs are investing in appsec, who appsec teams are collaborating with, and whether we need security awareness training for LLMs. Resources: https://www.forrester.com/blogs/application-security-2025-yes-ai-just-made-it-harder-to-do-this-right/ Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-338

Manual secure code reviews can be tedious and time intensive if you're just going through checklists. There's plenty of room for linters and compilers and all the grep-like tools to find flaws. Louis Nyffenegger describes the steps of a successful code review process. It's a process that starts with understanding code, which can even benefit from an LLM assistant, and then applies that understanding to a search for developer patterns that lead to common mistakes like mishandling data, not enforcing a control flow, or not defending against unexpected application states. He explains how finding those kinds of more impactful bugs are rewarding for the reviewer and valuable to the code owner. It involves reading a lot of code, but Louis offers tips on how to keep notes, keep an app's context in mind, and keep code secure. Segment Resources: https://pentesterlab.com/live-training/ https://pentesterlab.com/appsecschool https://deepwiki.com https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2025/05/29/decomplexification/ Visit https://w

Fuzzing has been one of the most successful ways to improve software quality. And it demonstrates how improving software quality improves security. Artur Cygan shares his experience in building and applying fuzzers to barcode scanners, smart contracts, and just about any code you can imagine. We go through the useful relationship between unit tests and fuzzing coverage, nudging fuzzers into deeper code paths, and how LLMs can help guide a fuzzer into using better inputs for its testing. Resources https://blog.trailofbits.com/2024/10/31/fuzzing-between-the-lines-in-popular-barcode-software/ https://github.com/crytic/echidna https://github.com/crytic/medusa https://lcamtuf.blogspot.com/2014/11/pulling-jpegs-out-of-thin-air.html Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-336

What makes a threat modeling process effective? Do you need a long list of threat actors? Do you need a long list of terms? What about a short list like STRIDE? Has an effective process ever come out of a list? Farshad Abasi joins our discussion as we explain why the answer to most of those questions is No and describe the kinds of approaches that are more conducive to useful threat models. Resources: https://www.eurekadevsecops.com/agile-devops-and-the-threat-modeling-disconnect-bridging-the-gap-with-developer-insights/ https://www.threatmodelingmanifesto.org https://kellyshortridge.com/blog/posts/security-decision-trees-with-graphviz/ In the news, learning from outage postmortems, an EchoLeak image speaks a 1,000 words from Microsoft 365 Copilot, TokenBreak attack targets tokenizing techniques, Google's layered strategy against prompt injection looks like a lot like defending against XSS, learning about code security from CodeAuditor CTF, and more! Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the la

CISA has been championing Secure by Design principles. Many of the principles are universal, like adopting MFA and having opinionated defaults that reduce the need for hardening guides. Matthew Rogers talks about how the approach to Secure by Design has to be tailored for Operational Technology (OT) systems. These systems have strict requirements on safety and many of them rely on protocols that are four (or more!) decades old. He explains how the considerations in this space go far beyond just memory safety concerns. Segment Resources: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/joint-guide-secure-by-demand-priority-considerations-for-ot-owners-and-operators-508c_0.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHSXu1P4ZTo Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-334

The recent popularity of MCPs is surpassed only by the recent examples deficiencies of their secure design. The most obvious challenge is how MCPs, and many more general LLM use cases, have erased two decades of security principles behind separating code and data. We take a look at how developers are using LLMs to generate code and continue our search for where LLMs are providing value to appsec. We also consider what indicators we'd look for as signs of success. For example, are LLMs driving useful commits to overburdened open source developers? Are LLMs climbing the ranks of bug bounty platforms? In the news, more examples of prompt injection techniques against LLM features in GitLab and GitHub, the value (and tradeoffs) in rewriting code, secure design lessons from a history of iOS exploitation, checking for all the ways to root, and NIST's approach to (maybe) measuring likely exploited vulns. Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-3

ArmorCode unveils Anya—the first agentic AI virtual security champion designed specifically for AppSec and product security teams. Anya brings together conversation and context to help AppSec, developers and security teams cut through the noise, prioritize risks, and make faster, smarter decisions across code, cloud, and infrastructure. Built into the ArmorCode ASPM Platform and backed by 25B findings, 285+ integrations, natural language intelligence, and role-aware insights, Anya turns complexity into clarity, helping teams scale securely and close the security skills gap. Anya is now generally available and included as part of the ArmorCode ASPM Platform. Visit https://securityweekly.com/armorcodersac to request a demo! As 'vibe coding", the practice of using AI tools with specialized coding LLMs to develop software, is making waves, what are the implications for security teams? How can this new way of developing applications be made secure? Or have the horses already left the stable? Segment Resources: ht

In the news, Coinbase deals with bribes and insider threat, the NCSC notes the cross-cutting problem of incentivizing secure design, we cover some research that notes the multitude of definitions for secure design, and discuss the new Cybersecurity Skills Framework from the OpenSSF and Linux Foundation. Then we share two more sponsored interviews from this year's RSAC Conference. With more types of identities, machines, and agents trying to access increasingly critical data and resources, across larger numbers of devices, organizations will be faced with managing this added complexity and identity sprawl. Now more than ever, organizations need to make sure security is not an afterthought, implementing comprehensive solutions for securing, managing, and governing both non-human and human identities across ecosystems at scale. This segment is sponsored by Okta. Visit https://securityweekly.com/oktarsac to learn more about them! At Mend.io, we believe that securing AI-powered applications requires more than just

Developers are relying on LLMs as coding assistants, so where are the LLM assistants for appsec? The principles behind secure code reviews don't really change based on who write the code, whether human or AI. But more code means more reasons for appsec to scale its practices and figure out how to establish trust in code, packages, and designs. Rey Bango shares his experience with secure code reviews and where developer education fits in among the adoption of LLMs. As businesses rapidly embrace SaaS and AI-powered applications at an unprecedented rate, many small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) struggle to keep up due to complex tech stacks and limited visibility into the skyrocketing app sprawl. These modern challenges demand a smarter, more streamlined approach to identity and access management. Learn how LastPass is reimagining access control through “Secure Access Experiences” - starting with the introduction of SaaS Monitoring capabilities designed to bring clarity to even the most chaotic environments.

We catch up on news after a week of BSidesSF and RSAC Conference. Unsurprisingly, AI in all its flavors, from agentic to gen, was inescapable. But perhaps more surprising (and more unfortunate) is how much the adoption of LLMs has increased the attack surface within orgs. The news is heavy on security issues from MCPs and a novel alignment bypass against LLMs. Not everything is genAI as we cover some secure design topics from the Airborne attack against Apple's AirPlay to more calls for companies to show how they're embracing secure design principles and practices. Apiiro CEO & Co-Founder, Idan Plotnik discusses the AI problem in AppSec. This segment is sponsored by Apiiro. Visit https://securityweekly.com/apiirorsac to learn more about them! Gen AI is being adopted faster than company’s policy and data security can keep up, and as LLM’s become more integrated into company systems and uses leverage more AI enabled applications, they essentially become unintentional data exfiltration points. These tools do

In this live recording from BSidesSF we explore the factors that influence a secure design, talk about how to avoid the bite of UX dragons, and why designs should put classes of vulns into dungeons. But we can't threat model a secure design forever and we can't oversimplify guidance for a design to be "more secure". Kalyani Pawar and Jack Cable join the discussion to provide advice on evaluating secure designs through examples of strong and weak designs we've seen over the years. We highlight the importance of designing systems to serve users and consider what it means to have a secure design with a poor UX. As we talk about the strategy and tactics of secure design, we share why framing this as a challenge in preventing dangerous errors can help devs make practical engineering decisions that improve appsec for everyone. Resources https://owasp.org/Top10/A042021-InsecureDesign/ https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/1251421.1251435 https://www.threatmodelingmanifesto.org https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc9700.html https:/

Secrets end up everywhere, from dev systems to CI/CD pipelines to services, certificates, and cloud environments. Vlad Matsiiako shares some of the tactics that make managing secrets more secure as we discuss the distinctions between secure architectures, good policies, and developer friendly tools. We've thankfully moved on from forced 90-day user password rotations, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place for rotating secrets. It means that the tooling and processes for ephemeral secrets should be based on secure, efficient mechanisms rather than putting all the burden on users. And it also means that managing secrets shouldn't become an unmanaged risk with new attack surfaces or new points of failure. Segment Resources: https://infisical.com/blog/solving-secret-zero-problem https://infisical.com/blog/gitops-secrets-management Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-327

The breaches will continue until appsec improves. Janet Worthington and Sandy Carielli share their latest research on breaches from 2024, WAFs in 2025, and where secure by design fits into all this. WAFs are delivering value in a way that orgs are relying on them more for bot management and fraud detection. But adopting phishing-resistant authentication solutions like passkeys and deploying WAFs still seem peripheral to secure by design principles. We discuss what's necessary for establishing a secure environment and why so many orgs still look to tools. And with LLMs writing so much code, we continue to look for ways LLMs can help appsec in addition to all the ways LLMs keep recreating appsec problems. Resources https://www.forrester.com/blogs/breaches-and-lawsuits-and-fines-oh-my-what-we-learned-the-hard-way-from-2024/ https://www.forrester.com/blogs/wafs-are-now-the-center-of-application-protection-suites/ https://www.forrester.com/blogs/are-you-making-these-devsecops-mistakes-the-four-phases-you-need-

We have a top ten list entry for Insecure Design, pledges to CISA's Secure by Design principles, and tons of CVEs that fall into familiar categories of flaws. But what does it mean to have a secure design and how do we get there? There are plenty of secure practices that orgs should implement are supply chains, authentication, and the SDLC. Those practices address important areas of risk, but only indirectly influence a secure design. We look at tactics from coding styles to design councils as we search for guidance that makes software more secure. Segment resources https://owasp.org/Top10/A042021-InsecureDesign/ https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign/pledge https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign https://kccnceu2025.sched.com/event/1xBJR/keynote-rust-in-the-linux-kernel-a-new-era-for-cloud-native-performance-and-security-greg-kroah-hartman-linux-kernel-maintainer-fellow-the-linux-foundation https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-linux-is-built-with-greg-kroah https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2025/04/07/writin

We take advantage of April Fools to look at some of appsec's myths, mistakes, and behaviors that lead to bad practices. It's easy to get trapped in a status quo of chasing CVEs or discussing which direction to shift security. But scrutinizing decimal points in CVSS scores or rearranging tools misses the opportunity for more strategic thinking. We satirize some worst practices in order to have a more serious discussion about a future where more software is based on secure designs. Segment resources: https://bsidessf2025.sched.com/event/1x8ST/secure-designs-ux-dragons-vuln-dungeons-application-security-weekly https://bsidessf2025.sched.com/event/1x8TU/preparing-for-dragons-dont-sharpen-swords-set-traps-gather-supplies https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3514.html https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1149.html Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-324

LLMs are helping devs write code, but is it secure code? How are LLMs helping appsec teams? Keith Hoodlet returns to talk about where he's seen value from genAI, where it fits in with tools like source code analysis and fuzzers, and where its limitations mean we'll be relying on humans for a while. Those limitations don't mean appsec should dismiss LLMs as a tool. It means appsec should understand how things like context windows might limit a tool's security analysis to a few files, leaving a security architecture review to humans. Segment resources: https://securing.dev/posts/ai-security-reasoning-and-bias/ https://seclists.org/dailydave/2025/q1/0 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.16165 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.05229 https://nicholas.carlini.com/writing/2025/thoughts-on-future-ai.html Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-323

The crypto world is rife with smart contracts that have been outsmarted by attackers, with consequences in the millions of dollars (and more!). Shashank shares his research into scanning contracts for flaws, how the classes of contract flaws have changed in the last few years, and how optimistic we can be about the future of this space. Segment Resources: https://scs.owasp.org https://scs.owasp.org/sctop10/ https://solidityscan.com/web3hackhub https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/asw for all the latest episodes! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-322