Build a secure code mindset with the GitHub Secure Code Game

Joseph Katsioloudes discusses the importance of secure coding in software development, highlighting his personal journey from focusing solely on functional code to understanding the need for security measures like user input validation. Recognizing a gap in secure coding education, he developed the Secure Code Game, a hands-on training tool available on GitHub Skills, designed to help developers and students improve their secure coding abilities. The game, currently supporting Python and C, uses gamification to teach best practices by providing vulnerable code for users to fix, thereby fostering a mindset of security awareness. Katsioloudes emphasizes that writing secure code is a form of creative problem-solving essential for delivering high-quality software and encourages community contributions to evolve the game. He also notes the challenges developers face in prioritizing security due to educational gaps, organizational emphasis, and the rapidly evolving threat landscape, advocating for a perception shift to view secure coding as integral to quality code.