Buyer’s Guide for

Developer
Security Tools
Enabling security from code to cloud and back
 Introduction
3

Table of Contents
Decentralization with standardization

Developer security platform essentials

4

Scaling

Compatibility with security and development teams

Breadth of coverage

Robust security research and databases

Developer-first tools
6

Meeting developers where they are

Real-time scanning

Find and fix

Prioritization

Low barrier to entry

Ecosystem coverage

Minimal false positives

Adjustable thresholds for varying security maturity

Code to cloud coverage

8

Proprietary code

Open source dependencies

Infrastructure as code (IaC)

Cloud security

Containers

Build pipeline

Software supply chain security

Governance and compliance

10

Accountability vs. responsibility

Reporting and controls

Measuring success

Customizable policies

Licenses

2 | Buyer’s Guide for Developer Security Tools

Introduction

The movement to shift security earlier into the software development lifecycle (shift left) and make it a
continuous process (DevSecOps) has created challenges and opportunities for companies. The purpose of
shifting left is to build security into the fast, iterative development processes of modern apps, and reduce the
security backlog early, in the same way other code issues are reduced. Success in this endeavor means fewer
security issues get shipped with the production code and discovered later, when it’s more expensive and
burdensome to fix them. Shifting left requires tools that support these capabilities, enabling developers to
find and fix issues as they work and empowering them to be self-sufficient.

But there are challenges that must be overcome for shift left to work. Traditionally, security tasks are handled
by a team of experts who work separately from developers. However, the rise of DevSecOps and the
decentralization of code security makes silos unsustainable — security needs to scale alongside
development. To shift security left and make it continuous, developers must become quasi-security
practitioners themselves.

Decentralization with standardization

As we decentralize, it’s vital to set clear standards for code

quality and security. Developers can produce better code more
efficiently when given clear expectations about what “good”
looks like. Establishing a framework for security allows security
teams to govern from a distance while still meeting audit
requirements. Successful coding standards will serve as
guardrails for developers without stalling product development —
satisfying development and security teams alike.

Empowering developers to take ownership of code security is a

shift in scope and culture that begins with selecting a developer-
first security platform capable of meeting a variety of needs. Use
of this buyer’s guide as a checklist to find the right developer
security platform for your organization.

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Developer security platform essentials

These are table stake requirements for a successful developer security platform.

🗹 Scaling
🗹 Compatibility with security and
development teams

While development teams are typically well supplied with

personnel, many security teams are not. Traditional security As code security becomes increasingly decentralized, it’s
initiatives are often adhoc based on a breach, newsworthy important to ensure that the platforms we work with meet
event, or regulatory needs. Trying to shift security left using the needs of both the security and development teams.
traditional models creates a scaling issue, because security Developers need tooling that fits into their existing
teams are still seen as a cost center instead of a business ecosystems and delivers actionable results in real time, so
enabler. While development teams are clearly required to that vulnerabilities are remediated before code is
facilitate business growth, the cost of allocating resources committed and shipped.

to security often seems too steep — creating a scaling

Security teams need tools that allow them to analyze and
problem for security budgets and teams.

validate the security posture of their applications, so they

To develop a sustainable security culture, we must make can make sure that developers are following security
proactive security practices business as usual. However, standards and quickly secure systems in the event of an
traditional tools that are designed for security experts are incident.

not the answer. A successful shift left makes security a part

A well-designed tool should help security teams set
of a developer’s everyday experience by dovetailing with the
guardrails for developers without hindering production,
systems they already use. This customization allows
while also providing the tracking and reporting capabilities
developers to become self-sufficient in the day to day,
needed for governance tasks.
helping security to scale more smoothly within an
organization.

4 | Buyer’s Guide for Developer Security Tools

Developer security platform essentials

These are table stake requirements for a successful developer security platform.

🗹 Breadth of coverage
🗹 Robust security research and databases

Security tooling traditionally focuses on depth over breadth. To provide timely detection and remediation of
As opposed to development tools, which aim to maximize vulnerabilities, a good security tool should be based on a
their coverage and integrations, security tools often drill vulnerability database that combines intelligence from both
deep into specific ecosystems and problems. This can then public and proprietary sources. This is crucial to minimizing
create a need to adopt additional security tooling to the time gap between when a new vulnerability is
increase coverage, which creates unwanted sprawl.
discovered and when it is reported to public databases such
as the NVD. Ideally, a tool should have its own security
To bring developers onboard, you need a toolset that can
database that incorporates human intelligence with the
secure existing infrastructure, languages, and technologies
multiple sources of information.

and scan for a wide array of potential vulnerabilities across

ecosystems — making breadth a priority as well as depth. The human element is particularly important. Security
research teams can identify new vulnerabilities, add them to
the database, and disclose their findings to the broader
community. Research teams can also add details that
contextualize raw security data and give clarity to
developers and security teams. Information about fixes,
exploits, and the conditions a vulnerability needs to be
effective are key for effective prioritization and remediation.

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Developer-first tools

Developers are more likely to adopt tools that make them more efficient and effective.

Meet developers where they are Real-time scanning

A program that disrupts the existing workflow will have Scans that take hours or days will only slow the
difficulty finding adoption. The chosen toolset must development process. When speed and accuracy are
integrate seamlessly into the ecosystem of tools used by critical, scanning code as it’s written is the best solution.
each development team. Additionally, it needs to be Real-time scanning allows developers to find and fix
extensible, with easy-to-use CLIs, APIs, and built-in vulnerabilities as they go — increasing productivity and
integration points to enable custom integrations and security at the same time. Additionally, the ability to
automation. automate scanning at every pull request and working within
CI/CD pipelines helps make sure nothing slips through the
cracks.

Find and fix Prioritization

Many security tools can find vulnerabilities, but developer- When tools report a batch of vulnerabilities, it’s important to
friendly tools need to give fix advice as well. Tools shouldn’t know which issues to tackle first. In order to supplement
require a complex security background or extensive the skills of your security team and enable developers to
experience. Development tools like linters find typos and take direct action, the chosen tool must prioritize
style errors and provide fixes — security tools should be no vulnerabilities across the entire application. The platform
different. The best tools will help developers find and fix you choose should provide accurate insights about the
vulnerabilities with systems they’re already familiar with, nature and scope of the vulnerabilities and rank them
leading to reduced backlogs and fewer production delays. according to severity and impact. Priority scoring allows
developers to see where their efforts should be directed,
lightens the security team’s load, and helps manage the
security posture of the application.

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Developer-first tools

Developers are more likely to adopt tools that make them more efficient and effective.

Low barrier to entry Ecosystem coverage

Any successful tool will be easy to import and roll out Security advice varies from one ecosystem to another.
across your organization. Developers will want to try it for Choosing a security tool that covers multiple ecosystems —
themselves to gauge value, so low or no touch setup languages, frameworks, libraries, builds, etc. — lets
configurations and straightforward testing are a necessity. development teams reduce the amount of tools they need.

Minimal false positives Adjustable thresholds for varying

Minimizing false positives is important, as “noise” will
security maturity
reduce adoption. But developer security tools need to also While some development teams have established secure
provide application-level context for vulnerabilities. For coding practices, others will be at the start of their security
example, a vulnerability may exist in a library, but that journey. A tool that provides adjustable thresholds of
doesn’t mean the development team is calling the acceptance based on the capacity and maturity of each
vulnerable code. Tools that prioritize false positives in the team is highly valuable. As developers increase their
application using signals such as reachability, configuration, security knowledge, thresholds for application testing and
and exploitable conditions give developers more accurate specificity can be increased according to the current
runtime-based estimates. competency level. The tool should create a long term,
customizable path toward secure coding expertise.

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Code to cloud coverage

Modern software is often managed by codifying the infrastructure and policy controls that ensure compliance to
agreed upon standards. So, a developer security platform needs to cover every aspect of configuration,
orchestration, and deployment.

Proprietary code Open source dependencies

Securing first party code is integral to any team. The ability Open source packages are an incredible resource for
to scan as you go is powerful because it allows developers developers, but securing them — and their transitive
to fix issues before deployment and minimizes tampering dependencies — can be a challenge. You need a developer
with the running application. The tool should not only show security platform that scans all dependencies, both direct
the vulnerabilities introduced in the code, but be able to and transitive, instead of stopping at the surface level.
understand the data flow across multiple source files to Additionally, remediation functionality must also account
help developers uncover the true source of their vulnerable for transitive dependencies. In places where multiple
code. packages share a vulnerable dependency, the remediation
suggestions for those issues should be intelligent enough
to determine the best fix for all the original issues.

Infrastructure as code (IaC) Cloud security

Infrastructure as code has two main goals: safety and IaC is the code that creates the cloud, meaning cloud
speed. To meet these goals, the security tool must support security starts when you shift left. But to understand how
automated scanning and be technologically agnostic to fit IaC cloud resources are connected, and ensure those
with any potential changes. The more you can test and resources remain secure after deployment, you must also
audit, the better, and the more those functions can be check the deployed cloud resources that use the IaC’s
automated, the faster you can go. policy engine. Beyond securing resources, the cloud
provides necessary context for prioritizing and
understanding the risk of application vulnerabilities. Apps
and cloud are intertwined in the digital era, so app security
and cloud security must complement each other.

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Code to cloud coverage

Modern software is often managed by codifying the infrastructure and policy controls that ensure compliance to
agreed upon standards. So, a developer security platform needs to cover every aspect of configuration,
orchestration, and deployment.

Containers Software supply chain security

While scanners looking for operating system vulnerabilities Recent federal regulations have made supply chain security
(the bulk of what’s in a container) have been around for 25+ a necessity. From a tooling perspective, there are several
years, fixing container vulnerabilities is very different from requirements to address. To implement a successful secure
fixing OS vulnerabilities in a server. Container images are development practice, responsibility for the integrity, quality,
built up in layers, often atop other container images. Patch and security of code must shift to developers. A successful
management techniques designed for long-lived servers tooling set will allow for early implementation of automated
will not scale. For a container security tool to help security testing, as well as holistic scanning of open source
developers, it should relate scan findings back to how the and proprietary code.

container is built, including identifying the parent image and

The platform must also include extensive reporting
more secure alternatives and incorporating runtime data in
capabilities to allow for the viewing and exporting of reports
the vulnerability analysis — without overwhelming the
such as a software bill of materials (SBOM).
developer with unnecessary details.

Build pipeline
Security within the build pipeline is imperative. The ability to
watch for potential vulnerabilities and close the appropriate
gates at the first sign of a security incident allows teams to
catch vulnerabilities sooner and respond faster.
Additionally, a tool's ability to govern access to the build
pipeline is vital to maintaining trust in the overall security
posture.

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Governance and compliance

Executives and business stakeholders can feel a step removed from the process as security is decentralized. The
responsibilities under their purview create specialized needs that a successful tooling set must also meet.

Accountability vs. responsibility

Accountability and responsibility are interdependent but separate concepts in code security. Accountability refers to the
person(s) who will shoulder the blame in the event of a security incident. While responsibility refers to the people who are
building and maintaining the application. In a software company, CISOs and other security professionals are accountable for
the security, privacy, and customer data held in the application.

Developers are responsible for ensuring that the application is working properly and mitigating any potential threats. The
success of this relationship depends on communication and clarity between the accountable and responsible parties.

Measuring success Reporting and controls

Quantifying application security can be tricky. Traditional Visibility into the risks and activities of developers is a
scans provide heaps of raw data, but contextualizing it is a necessity for CISOs and security teams alike. If they aren’t
different task. A successful developer security platform aware of what development teams are building, then they
should provide data on how it has made client applications have no chance to prepare or intervene in the event of a
more secure. We can know that a tool is working, but security incident. Consistent reporting and visibility over
accountable parties must be able to demonstrate it and nesting controls makes this possible, and must be included
explain where their data is coming from. This creates a in a developer security platform’s capabilities.
valuable roadmap for executives and security experts, while
also collecting important evidence for auditors.

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Governance and compliance

Executives and business stakeholders can feel a step removed from the process as security is decentralized. The
responsibilities under their purview create specialized needs that a successful tooling set must also meet.

Customizable policies Licenses

Policies and priorities will differ from team to team. If In contrast to open source compliance, licenses allow
something is important to a part of the system, the ability to CISOs and security experts to set controls for what
set custom policies that show how certain vulnerabilities developers can use while building an application.
(ex: remote code execution) or affected areas (ex: front Purchasing a tool with this capacity keeps developers from
end) are displayed is valuable. This allows accountable having to ask for verification every time they want to use
parties to customize how system data appears to something, and gives accountable parties an overview of
developers and prioritize the most relevant issues. what third party software has access to their application.

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Choose the right developer security platform for you
In this guide, we’ve outlined many factors to consider when selecting a security tool for your organization:
scalability, cross-team compatibility, breadth of coverage, depth of security intelligence, developer-friendliness,
cloud capabilities, governance, compliance, and more. The key outcome of shifting left is to build security into
the fast, iterative development processes of modern apps, reducing the number of security issues in production
code. The tooling aspects we’ve presented support these capabilities, empowering developers to be self-
sufficient and find and fix issues as they work.

While all of these capabilities have a role in developer security, your organization may assign different weights
to them, based on your specific needs. And since no two security solutions are the same, it's important to
thoroughly research the available options to determine which platform is best for your team and company.

Snyk integrates directly into development tools, workflows, and pipelines, making it
easy for teams to find, prioritize, and fix vulnerabilities in code, dependencies,
containers, cloud, and infrastructure as code. Backed by industry-leading
intelligence, Snyk puts security expertise in any developer's toolkit.

Learn how Snyk can secure your entire SDLC

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