Accounting for secure software development: Status, trends and business focus: A scoping study

Secure software development is vital from both the developer and business perspectives. Although researchers have conducted studies examining specific aspects, no study has examined the overall status of, trends in and business focus regarding secure software development—a gap this study aims to fill. This study searched digital databases and identified 138 abstracts and 95 full articles. It conducted a scoping study and utilised NVivo software to generate themes, first from abstracts and then from source documents. It then analysed the top 25 themes to identify the current status of and trends in secure software development. The study then investigated the status of and trends in the business focus using the keyword ‘business’ alone. Results show a preponderance of themes that matched across the abstract and document analyses, with the most commonly discussed themes activities or processes related to secure software development. Although not present in the abstracts, source document analysis identified cybersecurity as one of the top 25 themes. There was minimal discussion on business focus, although it showed an upward trend over the project period. Journal articles and conference papers shared similar themes of significance; the book chapter themes differed, with cybersecurity the most frequently discussed theme.