SSDLC Checklist for AppSec Teams (September 2026)

A secure software development lifecycle integrates security controls from planning and requirements through design, coding, testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance, aiming to identify vulnerabilities earlier, when they are less costly and disruptive to fix. The checklist recommends defining security requirements, regulatory obligations, data classifications, threat models, trust boundaries, least-privilege access, secure coding practices, and layered testing using SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, secrets scanning, infrastructure-as-code scanning, and penetration tests. It references frameworks including NIST SSDF, OWASP SAMM, Microsoft SDL, and ISO 27001, while emphasizing post-release measures such as SBOM management, vulnerability monitoring, patching, credential rotation, and access reviews. The piece argues that AI coding agents expand the threat surface because they can generate complete code changes rapidly and introduce behavioral risks that traditional static tools may not detect, citing OWASP’s agentic application risks such as goal hijacking, tool misuse, context poisoning, cascading failures, and rogue agents. It presents Arnica as a platform for governing AI-assisted development through agent configuration rules, automated repository scanning, AI-rule attestations, and reassignment of findings to active code owners.

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