Building trust in AppSec without being the 'no' team

“Security isn’t about saying no. It’s about clarifying the yes.” For too long, cybersecurity has been treated like the team of brakes. But great security isn’t about slowing down it’s about knowing exactly when and how to move forward. Case Study: What happened when we were invited early A product team came to us: “Can we launch this AI-powered feature in three weeks?” They expected resistance. Delay. Risk reviews. Instead, we said: “Yes but here’s how we do it safely.” We defined the controls. Aligned the risk to business value. And helped them launch secure, on time, and with confidence. That’s not theory. That’s execution. 🛑 THE REAL PROBLEM: Security is still invited too late Most teams hear “no” from cybersecurity because they only ask at the final mile. But by then: The budget is locked The timeline is set And security becomes a reactive blocker not a proactive partner The problem isn’t the controls. It’s when we’re asked to apply them. 💡 INSIGHT: Real security moves at the speed of trust Smart organizations know that involving security early doesn't slow you down. It actually removes friction before it happens. We’re not here to say no. We’re here to say: “Yes if we do it right.” That’s how you launch faster. Safer. With fewer surprises down the road. 🔄 MINDSET SHIFT: Replace resistance with enablement Stop asking: ❌ “Will security delay us?” Start asking: ✅ “How can security help us go faster with guardrails, not guesswork?” Modern security is a seatbelt, not a stop sign. It keeps you moving without flying off the track. ✅ TAKEAWAYS: How to enable the yes 🔸 Bring security into the conversation at idea stage 🔸 Measure controls against business value, not just compliance 🔸 Help teams make risk-informed decisions not fear-based ones 🔸 Build confidence, not just coverage 📩 CTA: Let’s move from friction to flow DM me for our Security Enablement Blueprint a practical guide we use to help product, tech, and security teams build faster, safer, and together. 👇 What’s a project your team helped push forward with a smarter “yes”? #CyberLeadership #SecurityEnablement #Microminder #CISO #ProductSecurity #BusinessRisk #EnableTheYes #SecurityWithSpeed #OperationalClarity #ResilienceInAction

I gave up on software security ever being fully owned by development teams. After two decades of watching failed policies, forgettable trainings, and threat models that never got updated, I just stopped expecting change. But something happened. Developers got tired of being told what to do. With DevOps came autonomy, and developers made the most of it. Security teams that embraced this shift stopped acting like gatekeepers and became trusted advisors. Platform vendors saw what was coming and built security directly into developer workflows. Suddenly, developers were taking responsibility for code security like they do with every other part of their job. Not because someone forced them to, but because it worked better. Today, great security teams focus on aligning people around the problem. Not prescribing how to solve it. Developers figure that out for themselves, and when they do, they own the outcome. At Crash Override, we don't think of ourselves as a security vendor. We are a DevOps platform solving security use cases alongside developer use cases. Almost all security problems are two sides of the same coin for security and DevOps. Security is just another quality attribute. It belongs to the people building the code. #devsecops #devops #appsec

Security shouldn’t be the department of ‘No’—but it can’t be the department of ‘Yes’ either. Too many security teams fall into one of two traps: 🔻 They default to blocking everything to feel in control ✔️ Or they agree to every request in the name of “being business-friendly” Neither approach works. Saying “no” to everything kills trust and gets you sidelined. Saying “yes” to everything gets you breached—or worse, ignored when it matters. The goal isn’t to be the department of “No” or “Yes.” It’s to be the department of “How.” ✅ How do we enable this initiative securely? ✅ How do we balance speed with risk? ✅ How do we partner early so security isn’t a blocker later? Strong security programs build influence by helping the business move forward—not just by preventing bad things from happening. #GRC #ISO27001 #CISO #infosec

I entered AppSec thinking I’d protect apps, But ended up firefighting Jira tickets and chasing bugs without a map!! I was excited and optimistic, But completely unprepared for the real world. (Good intentions ≠ secure systems) And technical skills without context? That’s just chaos. Looking back, I’d trade my first few flashy wins for foundational lessons. Here are 3 mistakes I made early on and what I’d do things differently today: 🔻 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟭: 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 I thought the right tool could fix everything. I stacked scanners, analyzers, dashboards... thinking more coverage = more control. Spoiler: It didn’t. Tools without strategy = noise without insight. I spent more time configuring tools than understanding vulnerabilities. ✅ What I’d do differently: Start with 𝘸𝘩𝘺 a tool is needed. Map it to specific risks and workflows. One well-placed, well-integrated tool beats five disconnected ones. 🔻 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟮: 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 I filed tickets. Dropped vuln reports. walked away. Fixes lagged. Trust eroded. Security became a checklist, not a culture. ✅ What I’d do differently: Embed with dev teams. Build empathy. Translate security into engineering language. If your fixes don’t ship, they don’t matter. Security isn’t just a gate, it’s a bridge. 🔻 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 #𝟯: 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 I focused on individual bugs: SQLi here, SSRF there… But I never stopped to ask: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴?” In essence, I was chasing symptoms, not root causes. ✅ What I’d do differently: Start every major project with a threat model. Map attack surfaces. Spot high-impact issues early. Because missing one critical 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 >>> 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 10 𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘨𝘴. Here’s what I learned: Every AppSec career starts with fire drills and rabbit holes. But with time, you realize:  Security is not about catching 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. It’s about catching what 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺. Your biggest strength? Not how many CVEs you know. But how well you help your team build secure-by-design software. Be the enabler. Not the gatekeeper. That’s what I’d tell the younger me. And maybe someone reading this today. #AppSec #SecurityLeadership #DevSecOps #CyberSecurity #SecureSoftware #StartupSecurity #ThreatModeling #SecurityByDesign

Beyond "Hidden Vegetables", let's talk real AppSec engagement. Shift Left has been fantastic for AppSec, embedding security checks early in the pipeline. It's efficient, and often makes security feel almost invisible to developers. That's good, right? Well, maybe only up to a point. Think of it like hiding vegetables in a kid's sauce. Sure, they're getting some nutrients, but they aren't learning what vegetables are, which ones they like, or why they're important. They aren't learning to make healthy choices themselves. Relying solely on invisible, automated security can be similar. Developers might produce code that passes checks, but are they truly understanding the why behind secure coding? Are they equipped to proactively build security in, rather than just having vulnerabilities caught downstream (even if "downstream" is just a pre-commit hook)? The goal isn't to ditch automated pipeline security—that's essential! It's about evolving beyond just "hidden veggies." We need to actively involve developers in the AppSec conversation. How, though? ✅ Engage with Developers: Instead of being the "parent", giving them rules to follow, be a resource to the team. ✅ Education & Awareness: Helping devs understand why certain patterns are insecure. ✅ Collaboration: Making security a visible, discussed part of the development process. ✅ Empowerment: Equipping developers to make conscious, secure coding decisions from the start. Shift Left is THE foundation, but true DevSecOps maturity means developers aren't just unaware of security issues because the tooling handles it; they're aware and actively participating in building secure applications. #AppSec #DevSecOps #ShiftLeft #SecureCoding #DeveloperExperience #Cybersecurity #SoftwareDevelopment

“No” is sometimes the easiest answer in security, but it's rarely the right one. When we simply say “no” to the builders we partner with, we fall short on understanding the business’ needs, miss opportunities to innovate, and damage the partnerships essential to effective security. Instead, I encourage my teams to ask, “How can we do this securely?” I’ve found this approach leads to better discussions, closer collaboration, and ultimately more secure products for our customers. Hacking the humans we work with is as important as managing the technology we oversee. Focus on your customer!