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This PR adds a new cheat sheet based on CISA’s Secure by Design principles.

  • New file: CISA_Secure_By_Design_Cheat_Sheet.md
  • Organized around the 7 CISA principles
  • Includes practical, developer-friendly guidance under each heading
  • References link to the official CISA alert and PDF

This should give teams a dedicated resource for applying the Secure by Design principles, while complementing the existing Secure Product Design cheat sheet.

Looking forward to feedback from the community

@Prasad-JB Prasad-JB force-pushed the add-cisa-secure-by-design-cs branch from a9817f0 to e05342d Compare September 15, 2025 22:53
@Prasad-JB Prasad-JB force-pushed the add-cisa-secure-by-design-cs branch from e05342d to 96036e9 Compare September 15, 2025 22:56
@szh
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szh commented Sep 16, 2025

Is this PR superseded by #1800?

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@szh No, this PR (#1799) is the main one for the CISA Secure by Design cheat sheet. PR #1800 was a mistake that I've now closed.

I've fixed all the lint errors (MD025 duplicate heading issues) and the markdown lint checks should now pass. This PR is ready for review.

This cheat sheet provides practical guidance for implementing CISA's Secure by Design principles, complementing the existing Secure Product Design cheat sheet.

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The first three principles are great. I left some questions about the rest.

Comment on lines +1 to +8
---
layout: col-sidebar
title: CISA Secure by Design Cheat Sheet
tags: CISA, Secure-by-Design, Development, Principles
level: 2
type: cheatsheet
pitch: Practical guidance for implementing CISA's Secure by Design principles in software development.
---
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We don't use this on any other of the cheat sheets. What's the purpose of it?

- **Cross-functional Teams**: Create teams with both development and security expertise
- **Security Training**: Provide ongoing security education for all developers

### 4. Secure the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
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I only see the first 3 principles in the whitepaper. Where are 4-7 from?

## Tools and Resources

- **CISA Secure by Design Alert**: [AA23-074A](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-074a)
- **CISA Secure by Design Principles**: [Full PDF Guide](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/secure_by_design_alert_4.19.23.pdf)
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I'm getting a 404 for this. Did you mean this?

Suggested change
- **CISA Secure by Design Principles**: [Full PDF Guide](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/secure_by_design_alert_4.19.23.pdf)
- **CISA Secure by Design Principles**: [Full PDF Guide](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/SecureByDesign_1025_508c.pdf)


- **CISA Secure by Design Alert**: [AA23-074A](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-074a)
- **CISA Secure by Design Principles**: [Full PDF Guide](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/secure_by_design_alert_4.19.23.pdf)
- **OWASP Secure Product Design Cheat Sheet**: [Link to related cheat sheet]
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Suggested change
- **OWASP Secure Product Design Cheat Sheet**: [Link to related cheat sheet]
- [OWASP Secure Product Design Cheat Sheet](Secure_Product_Design_Cheat_Sheet.md)

- **CISA Secure by Design Alert**: [AA23-074A](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-074a)
- **CISA Secure by Design Principles**: [Full PDF Guide](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/secure_by_design_alert_4.19.23.pdf)
- **OWASP Secure Product Design Cheat Sheet**: [Link to related cheat sheet]
- **Memory Safety**: [CISA Memory Safety Roadmap](https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/memory-safety-roadmap)
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This gives me a 404 as well


1. [CISA Secure by Design](https://www.cisa.gov/securebydesign)
2. [CISA Secure by Design Alert AA23-074A](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-074a)
3. [CISA Memory Safety Recommendations](https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/memory-safety-roadmap)
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Same link, so 404 here too


- Prasad-JB
- OWASP Cheat Sheets Team
- CISA Cybersecurity Division
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I'm not sure if we can put this here if they don't directly contribute to this cheat sheet. It wouldn't be fair to them to claim they're involved if they aren't.

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2 participants