A Framework for Integrating Secure Coding Principles into Undergraduate Programming Curricula

The rise of the use of the internet has led to significant growth in software applications for conducting business, entertainment and socialising, which in turn has led to a higher rate of attacks on software applications. This problem has led to industry requiring software developers skilled in developing software in a secure manner. The problem that industry faces is that many software development graduates do not have the requisite knowledge in secure programming. Academia should thus address these needs of industry by integrating secure coding principles into undergraduate programming curricula. In South Africa, however, this is often not formally done. This paper suggests some secure coding principles that could be integrated into programming curricula, together with various integration approaches and related challenges. It presents a framework for integrating secure coding principles into undergraduate programming curricula to ensure the formal planning and ‘buy-in’ of academic staff at all levels. The purpose of the framework is to guide computing faculties about ‘what’ secure coding principles to teach and ‘where’ to teach them.