CERTIFICATION

CSDL: Certified Secure Development Leader

Secure software doesn’t just happen, and there is no single magic tool that can bring it to your team, organization, or software development lifecycle. Secure development needs a leader and champion within an organization to craft a program of change that improves not only our technology practices but also our security culture.

The Certified Secure Development Leader (CSDL) exam provides a recognized way to assess your skills as a secure development leader and your ability to design, implement, measure, and manage an application security program across your organization. This certification tests your theoretical knowledge of how to lead secure development initiatives and your practical understanding of our hands-on scenario-based exam.

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Topics covered in the Certified Secure Development Leader (CSDL) certification

  • Understanding common software security maturity frameworks and how they apply to fast-moving software teams and organizations.

  • Measuring security maturity on an application, product and lifecycle basis.

  • Designing an application security program that works for the scale, resources, and operating constraints of your team.

  • Identifying and enabling security advocates and champions within your team to build a cyber security culture.

  • Managing software security across multiple teams, technologies, SDLC, and process maturities.

  • Communicating with stakeholders to secure buy-in and budget and to escalate risks meaningfully.

  • Planning for and responding to software security incidents.

Reasons to pursue the Certified Secure Development Leader (CSDL) certification

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Drive software security change within your team and build a security-by design

There is a critical shortage of secure development specialists. The CSDL gives you a structured program to become an application security leader.

Skills that are useful in your role from day one

Our courses and resources enable you to reach certification standards while building an application security program in your current organization.

Take a security-by-design approach to secure software

Reduce your teams and organizations risk by implementing security from the start of your SDLC and weave it as a continuous theme throughout your software’s life.

Create certainty and direction, and measure progress

Implement processes and metrics that allow you to move your team’s maturity in a measurable way, in alignment with globally recognized standards such as OWASP SAMM, NIST SSDF, BSIMM, and ISO 27001

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Develop your career and embrace new appsec leadership opportunities.

There has never been more need for secure software built maturely and measurably. Chart your course as a leader in this field and explore pathways to becoming:

Application Security Manager

Leading application security teams to enable secure development practices through large, complex environments.

Product Security Leader

Leading the design of software products that integrate security throughout. Keep your organizations, data, people, and systems safe.

Senior Application Security Engineer or DevSecOps

Lead the security efforts in your team or organization in a hands-on role, mentoring and coaching others and setting direction.

FAQ

  • The CSDL exam is a leadership level certificate designed to recognize the security skills of a software development leader to design and manage an ongoing application security program within their team.

  • The CSDL exam is a two part online exam. This includes a multiple choice theory exam covering the required topics plus four hands-on assessments., These are designed to simulate the process of designing , implementing, and managing an application security program.

  • The CSDL exam is for senior software development team members and leaders who wish to create and manage an application security program within their organization or team.

  • To achieve the CSDL certificate, you must first complete the CSDP certificate, which assesses your understanding of how software is built, the overarching software development lifecycle, and how software is designed.

    CSDL applicants are expected to be in senior software leadership positions and actively manage security initiatives within their team or organization.

  • Completing the CSDL exam will give you proven skills for designing, implementing, managing and measuring an application security program.

    This includes measuring maturity, communicating with stakeholders and building security culture within your teams.

  • SafeStack is a specialist secure development education platform and has a range of support channels available from monthly interactive seminars, courses and labs to online chat support from our team.

  • Exams may be retaken 30 days after the last exam attempt. Exam retakes will be billed at $249 per retake attempt, in advance.

  • Yes! Platform access is billed annually and can be renewed at the end of your subscription.

Need to train a team?

SafeStack can help you roll out a training program for your entire software team.

Let us make it easy for you with a 15-minute demo from one of our team

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