Secure Development Policy - SME

The Secure Development Policy (P24S) is specifically crafted for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with particular adaptation for organizations that lack dedicated IT or security teams. Recognizing the unique resource constraints of SMEs, the policy assigns the General Manager (GM) as the central authority for policy approval, implementation, contract oversight, and compliance, streamlining governance in environments where CISO or SOC roles may not exist. Despite this simplification, the policy remains fully aligned with internationally recognized security standards, notably ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO/IEC 27002:2022, NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5, EU NIS2, EU DORA, COBIT 2019, and EU GDPR, ensuring that compliance obligations are met without sacrificing practical applicability. The purpose of this document is to mandate a baseline of secure coding and development practices for all software, scripts, and web-based tools created or modified by the organization or its partners. It applies comprehensive security requirements across the full spectrum of internally developed, outsourced, or third-party-supplied code, including plugins, components, and automation tools. The policy’s defined scope covers every environment involved in development activities, development, staging, pre-production, and production, and specifically governs how sensitive or production data is handled in these settings. Among its core objectives, the policy focuses on the prevention of security flaws at every stage of the software development lifecycle. This includes enforced use of secure coding standards (such as OWASP Top 10), formalized code review processes, mandated security testing before release, and controlled access to all development and production systems. The policy introduces explicit requirements for vendor and third-party management, including contractual security clauses, validation of third-party components for vulnerabilities and licensing, and regular tracking or auditing of compliance through retained artifacts and documentation. To address daily accountability, streamlined roles and responsibilities are defined: the General Manager oversees and signs off all development security activities, internal developers and app owners follow secure practices and reporting, external vendors are contractually bound to security commitments and required testing, and IT providers or administrators manage secure access and deployment, enforcing separation of environments. An inherent part of this SME policy is the structured risk treatment and exception process. Any deviations from secure practices, or risks that cannot be immediately remediated, must be formally assessed and approved by the General Manager, with periodic re-evaluation to manage changes in risk posture. The policy also establishes strong enforcement and audit-readiness controls, requiring all checklists, review approvals, test results, and inventories to be securely retained and promptly available for ISO audits, regulatory review, or customer requests. Lastly, review and update requirements guarantee that the policy remains current with evolving development technologies, frameworks, and regulatory changes, demonstrating a proactive approach to organizational security and regulatory compliance for the SME sector.