The Fallout and Lessons Learned from the CrowdStrike Fiasco - Shimon Modi, Jeff Pollard, Allie Mellen, Boaz Barzel - ASW #296
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
Release Date: 08/20/2024
Simple Patterns for Complex Secure Code Reviews - Louis Nyffenegger - ASW #337
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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...
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How Fuzzing Barcodes Raises the Bar for Secure Code - Artur Cygan - ASW #336
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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 Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
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Threat Modeling With Good Questions and Without Checklists - Farshad Abasi - ASW #335
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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: 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...
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Bringing CISA's Secure by Design Principles to OT Systems - Matthew Rogers - ASW #334
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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: Visit for all the latest episodes! Show Notes:
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AIs, MCPs, and the Acutal Work that LLMs Are Generating - ASW #333
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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...
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AI in AppSec: Agentic Tools, Vibe Coding Risks & Securing Non-Human Identities - Mo Aboul-Magd, Shahar Man, Brian Fox, Mark Lambert - ASW #332
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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...
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Appsec News & Interviews from RSAC on Identity and AI - Rami Saas, Charlotte Wylie - ASW #331
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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...
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Secure Code Reviews, LLM Coding Assistants, and Trusting Code - Rey Bango, Karim Toubba, Gal Elbaz - ASW #330
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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...
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AI Era, New Risks: How Data-Centric Security Reduces Emerging AppSec Threats - Vishal Gupta, Idan Plotnik - ASW #329
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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,...
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Secure Designs, UX Dragons, Vuln Dungeons - Jack Cable - ASW #328
Application Security Weekly (Audio)
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...
info_outlineThis week, Jeff Pollard and Allie Mellen join us to discuss the fallout and lessons learned from the CrowdStrike fiasco. They explore the reasons behind running in the kernel, the challenges of software quality, and the distinction between a security incident and an IT incident. They also touch on the need to reduce the attack surface and the importance of clear definitions in the cybersecurity industry. The conversation explores the need for a product security revolution and the importance of transparency and trust in security vendors.
As development cycles shorten and more responsibilities shift to developers, application security (AppSec) is rapidly evolving. Organizations are increasingly building mature programs that automate and enhance AppSec, moving beyond manual processes. In this discussion, we explore how organizations are adapting their AppSec practices, highlighting the challenges and milestones encountered along the way.
Key topics include the integration of security into the development lifecycle, the impact of emerging technologies, and strategies for fostering a security-first culture. Boaz Barzel shares his experiences and offers practical advice on overcoming common obstacles, ensuring that security measures keep pace with rapid technological advancements. This segment serves as a comprehensive guide for organizations striving to enhance their AppSec practices and continuously optimize their posture.
This segment is sponsored by OX Security. Visit https://securityweekly.com/oxbh to learn more about them!
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Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/asw-296