In this ultimate how to audit guide to ISO 27001 Annex A 8.25 Secure Development Lifecycle, you will learn directly from an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor:
- 10 Key Audit Steps
- Verification Criteria
- Required Evidence
- The Pass / Fail Test
I am Stuart Barker, the ISO 27001 Lead Auditor and author of the Ultimate ISO 27001 Toolkit.
Using over 30 years of industry experience across hundreds of audits, I’m giving you the exact templates, walkthroughs, and practical examples you need to achieve ISO 27001 certification.
Table of contents
- ISO 27001 Annex A 8.25 Visualisation of Secure Development Lifecycle Audit Checklist
- 1. Secure Coding Policy Formalisation Verified
- 2. Security Requirements Integration in Design Confirmed
- 3. Vulnerability Mitigation in Software Components Validated
- 4. Secure Coding Practices Implementation Confirmed
- 5. Development and Production Environment Segregation Verified
- 6. Secure Handling of Sensitive Data in Development Validated
- 7. Version Control and Change Authorisation Confirmed
- 8. Automated Security Testing in CI/CD Pipeline Verified
- 9. Secure Decommissioning of Development Assets Identified
- 10. Management Oversight of Developer Competency Recorded
ISO 27001 Annex A 8.25 Visualisation of Secure Development Lifecycle Audit Checklist
Auditing ISO 27001 Annex A 8.25 Secure Development Lifecycle is the technical verification of security integration throughout the software engineering process. The Primary Implementation Requirement is automated security testing within CI/CD pipelines, providing the Business Benefit of reducing production vulnerabilities and ensuring high-integrity software delivery.
This technical verification tool is designed for lead auditors to establish the security integrity of the software development process. Use this checklist to validate compliance with ISO 27001 Annex A 8.25.
1. Secure Coding Policy Formalisation Verified
Verification Criteria: A documented policy exists defining the mandatory security principles for software development, including minimum security baselines for coding and architectural design.
Required Evidence: Approved “Secure Development Policy” or “Secure Coding Standard” with explicit version control and management sign-off.
Pass/Fail Test: If the organisation cannot produce a formalised document specifying the security requirements for development activities, mark as Non-Compliant.
2. Security Requirements Integration in Design Confirmed
Verification Criteria: Security requirements are identified and documented during the specification and design phases of every software development project.
Required Evidence: Project specification documents or Jira tickets containing explicit “Security Requirements” or “Non-Functional Requirements” sections.
Pass/Fail Test: If a sampled project lacks documented security specifications prior to the commencement of coding, mark as Non-Compliant.
3. Vulnerability Mitigation in Software Components Validated
Verification Criteria: Technical controls are in place to identify and remediate vulnerabilities in third-party libraries and open-source components (Software Composition Analysis).
Required Evidence: SCA tool reports (e.g. Snyk, GitHub Dependabot, or SonarQube) showing zero “Critical” or “High” vulnerabilities in production code.
Pass/Fail Test: If production code contains unpatched third-party libraries with known “High” severity vulnerabilities and no documented mitigation, mark as Non-Compliant.
