Developers

Title

Perceptions of Secure Software Development: A Qualitative Study of Software Engineers in the UK

Co-Authors

Sam Smith, Cameron Jones.

Abstract

There are differences between developing software in the USA and the UK, ranging from variances in coding standards and industry practices to disparities in work culture and market dynamics. This study aims to provide an initial qualitative account of the experiences of software developers in the UK while developing secure code. We address two key research areas: (1) the degree of concern among software developers regarding security, (2) the reasons behind developers’ decisions to adopt, or disregard, certain dependency management and automated tooling techniques. Through interviews with nine developers, a deeper understanding of the human factors influencing secure code development in the UK was obtained. Preliminary results show that UK-based developers are influenced by: organisational, individual, and social factors, more work is needed to conclude how these are influenced by a UK national context.