What is Software assurance?

Understanding Software assurance

The level of confidence that software is free from vulnerabilities either intentionally designed into the software or accidentally inserted at any time during its lifecycle and that it functions in the intended manner. Software assurance encompasses processes activities and tools aimed at improving security throughout the software development lifecycle to produce software that functions as intended without vulnerabilities or malicious code. It focuses on building security in rather than adding it later. Software assurance principles are defined in standards like ISO/IEC 27034 NIST SSDF and OWASP SAMM. Organizations implement software assurance through secure development practices threat modeling code review security testing third-party component management and continuous security monitoring. For example a medical device manufacturer might implement a comprehensive software assurance program including security requirements definition architecture risk analysis secure coding standards automated static and dynamic security testing third-party component vulnerability scanning and independent penetration testing before release ensuring their life-critical software is free from vulnerabilities. Related terms Secure SDLC Secure coding Application security Static analysis Dynamic analysis Vulnerability management Secure architecture DevSecOps.