Application security review of functional specifications

Understand the purpose of the application and its key functionalities.

Identify stakeholders involved in the application development and security review process.

Document security requirements based on regulatory, compliance, and organizational standards.

Ensure that security requirements are clearly defined and aligned with business objectives.

Identify potential threats and vulnerabilities associated with the application.

Analyze the application's architecture and data flow to pinpoint areas of risk.

Document and prioritize threats based on their potential impact.

Assess how sensitive data is collected, stored, and transmitted.

Ensure encryption standards are applied for data at rest and in transit.

Evaluate data retention and disposal policies.

Review the authentication mechanisms in place (e.g., password policies, multi-factor authentication).

Evaluate user roles and permissions to ensure the principle of least privilege is applied.

Check for secure session management practices.

Verify that input validation mechanisms are implemented to prevent injection attacks.

Ensure that output encoding practices are in place to mitigate cross-site scripting (XSS) risks.

Assess the handling of error messages and exceptions to avoid information leakage.

Review adherence to secure coding standards and guidelines.

Conduct a code review to identify potential security flaws.

Ensure that third-party libraries and frameworks are up to date and free from known vulnerabilities.

Outline plans for security testing, including static and dynamic analysis.

Define acceptance criteria for security-related functionalities.

Ensure that penetration testing is part of the validation process.

Document all findings, recommendations, and action items from the security review.

Prepare a comprehensive report for stakeholders, highlighting risks and mitigations.

Establish a process for tracking remediation efforts and re-evaluating security measures.

Define a plan for continuous security monitoring and incident response.

Schedule periodic reviews of functional specifications and security measures.

Stay updated on emerging threats and best practices in application security.