Cybersecurity is a very important aspect of software development. It is a branch of code testing which is integral in the profitability of major tech companies around the world as highlighted in my previous article on static code analysis. Some weeks back while I was looking for ways to test my flask project for possible security vulnerabilities, I stumbled on a tool called Bandit. Bandit is a tool developed to locate and correct security problems in Python code. To do that Bandit analyzes every file, builds an AST from it, and runs suitable plugins to the AST nodes. Once Bandit has completed scanning all of the documents it generates a report.

Bandit is very useful in detecting security issues and was even featured on kali’s blog as one of the best tools in finding common security issues on your project. Now that we know what bandit is, let us look at some advantages of testing our code for security vulnerabilities.

IMPORTANCE OF SECURING OUR CODE

• Unsecure code is prone to external threats and compromise of personal information or company secrets that may result in the loss of a considerable amount of money if exploited. Securing our code is therefore important in avoiding this problem.
• Unsecure code can also result in damage to the systems of thousands of users utilizing the software. This could also cost the company a lot of money in compensating the affected users.
• Securing our code will also counter this problem.
• Unsecure code can lead to loss of life and property. Some malicious organizations exploit software and steal user’s data to blackmail them. This could result in users committing suicide or trading their properties to free themselves. Occurrences like this can be avoided by simply producing secure code.
• We are now aware of why we should secure our code. We can now get our hands dirty by making use of the Bandit tool.

#python #programming