What is Secure Software Development Lifecycle SSDLC?

Understanding Secure Software Development Lifecycle SSDLC

The Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) builds security into every phase of creating software, rather than bolting it on at the end. In traditional development, security was often an afterthought—something to check just before deployment when changes are expensive and disruptive. SSDLC flips this approach by integrating security activities at every stage: threat modeling during design, secure coding practices during implementation, security testing during verification, and security monitoring in operations. Teams following SSDLC conduct security requirements analysis before writing any code, perform regular code reviews looking specifically for security issues, and run both automated and manual security tests throughout development. What makes SSDLC effective is that it addresses security in ways appropriate to each phase—finding design flaws early when they're cheap to fix, and catching implementation bugs before they reach production. Organizations that adopt SSDLC typically see fewer vulnerabilities in production and lower remediation costs.