Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) Metrics
Measurement of security practices integrated into the software development process
Current Value
87.3%
+5.6% from previous period
Industry average: 72%
Calculation Method
Composite score based on security in requirements, design reviews, testing, and deployments
Significance
This KPI evaluates how effectively security is embedded in your development lifecycle, reducing vulnerabilities in applications before they reach production.
Definition
Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) Metrics measure the integration of security practices throughout the application development process. This composite KPI typically includes measurements for security requirements coverage, threat modeling, secure code review coverage, security testing automation, vulnerability remediation rates, and security signoff compliance.
Significance
Security vulnerabilities are significantly more expensive to fix when discovered in production compared to early in the development process. According to industry research, fixing security issues in production can cost 30x more than addressing them during design or development.
This KPI helps security and development teams identify gaps in the secure development process and shift security left, reducing the number of vulnerabilities that reach production.
Calculation Method
This composite metric includes several key components:
- Security Requirements Coverage: Percentage of applications with security requirements defined
- Threat Modeling Completion Rate: Percentage of applications with completed threat models
- Secure Code Review Coverage: Percentage of code changes reviewed for security
- Security Testing Automation: Percentage of applications with automated security testing in CI/CD
- Vulnerability Remediation Rate: Percentage of identified vulnerabilities fixed before production
- Security Signoff Rate: Percentage of releases with security approval prior to deployment
The overall SSDLC score is a weighted average of these components, with weights adjusted based on organizational priorities and risk assessments.
Current Performance
Our SSDLC metrics have improved from 81.7% to 87.3% over the past 12 months.
• Security Requirements Coverage: 92.5%
• Threat Modeling Completion: 84.3%
• Secure Code Review Coverage: 89.7%
• Security Testing Automation: 91.2%
• Vulnerability Remediation Rate: 86.9%
• Security Signoff Rate: 94.8%
Benchmark
Industry average: 72% SSDLC implementation effectiveness
Best practice target: >90% overall, with higher targets for critical applications