What a Dev Wants: Security Training for Today’s Developer Workforce

It’s no secret that developing a strong security culture is a critical component of the production of secure products, yet organizations often overlook the fact that their security training programs set the foundation on which this culture is built. When it comes to developer training, our goal should be to align the intrinsic motivations of a learner with the company’s strategy and objectives. But if either of these is misaligned, the training program, and ultimately the organization, will suffer because it is either irrelevant or perceived as a compulsory box that needs to be checked.

Addressing the Interests of Developers Vs. the Organization

Unfortunately, there is a gap between the buyer persona and the developers themselves, even though developers tend to have a fairly consistent response about the ways they want to be trained. Rather than implement a program that is doomed to be viewed as a time-consuming compliance requisite, organizations should rather ask this simple, yet pertinent question: What do developers really want out of their security training program?

When it comes to today’s security training programs for developers, there’s often a separation between compliance-based training and developer-centric training; in other words, the interests of the organization don’t always align with the interests of the developers. In most highly regulated organizations, there is a mandated security training curriculum that all employees, including the development teams, are required to go through on a yearly basis. This leads to a drawn-out, painful process that leaves employees clicking through modules as fast as possible. Developers may then need to go back and look up security topics on a regular basis if they are looking to implement them into their code.

While developers are certainly making an effort to adhere to security requirements, this greatly slows the ability to get the product to market in a secure and efficient way.

What Training do Developers Really Want?

Organizations should prioritize programs that will specifically target their development teams by asking what those developers are actually looking for. With so many training programs on the market, it can be difficult for an organization to determine which will resonate the most with their employees, specifically their development teams. The fact of the matter is that, when it comes to security training, the majority of developers want to do as little of it as possible. They are willing to check the boxes for compliance purposes, but they want it to be as seamless as possible. As the complexity of training tactics continues to evolve, an ideal curriculum is simple, like programs that can be embedded in the tools developers use on a daily basis.

The most effective training programs are engaging and relevant. Managers tend to see better results from training that is hands-on, interactive, engaging and related to developer tasks. Gamification is also a great way to engage developers. For instance, organizations have started livening up their training curriculum with leaderboards. In fact, recent studies have indicated that developers would opt into shared company leaderboards with points for content consumed. Not only are these programs engaging for the developers, but they are also incredibly effective, as they motivate teams to view more content by leveraging individuals’ pure competitive drive.

Security Champion Programs for the Win

Organizations could also implement a security champions program. These programs vary depending on the organization, but in its simplest form, a security champions program designates a “champion” from each team. The champion is then tasked with leading the team as a subject matter expert as far as security goes. One thing to keep in mind here is that this program could be a major failure if done improperly. Remember, you don’t want to designate just anyone as the team security champion; you want to be sure you’re selecting an engaged employee that will prioritize secure practices and proactively communicate updates across the team.

Regardless of what avenue an organization chooses, the name of the game is ensuring development teams are actively engaged with a relevant and realistic training program. The result of which will have an important downstream impact as organizations work to build a culture with a strong foundation in security. After all, “checking the box” can only go so far when it comes to developing a winning—and secure—solution.