Finding and patching vulnerabilities after the software is in production is both costly and leaves the company vulnerable to cyberattacks. To build defenses from the moment the code is written, software engineers use the CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) catalog as a guide to secure programming.
How Do Programmers Use CWE to Secure Code?
CWE creates a common language between programmers and security teams. It can be used at different stages of software development in the following ways:
In the Planning and Design Phase: Before starting to write code, architects review the "CWE Top 25" (World's 25 Most Dangerous Code Errors) list. For example, if the project has a user registration system, the team reviews the CWE-20 (Invalid Input Validation) rules in advance and sets the code standards accordingly.
During the Coding Phase (Live Guide): Each error in the CWE database has a special section for programmers. This includes a "Error Code Example" in the language (C, C++, Java, Python, Go) of the error and a "Correct / Safe Code Example" immediately before it. Programmers can look at these examples while writing the function and avoid errors.
