Does ‘shifting security left’ really work?

Shifting security left requires genuine executive buy-in and resource allocation, not just token gestures or temporary support

Security teams need to build collaborative relationships with developers and product teams rather than just pointing out problems - be a trusted guide and partner

Consider security during architectural design reviews and early product planning phases rather than only during implementation

Focus on qualitative metrics and business impact rather than just quantitative vulnerability counts - measure what actually matters for your organization’s context

Understand your organization’s specific risk profile, maturity level, and needs rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach

Be strategic about third-party components and dependencies - be selective about what you bring in and trust their security processes

Avoid overloading developers with too many security responsibilities without proper support, training and resources

Make security part of the architectural and product design process rather than just implementation checks

Show how better security practices can improve engineering productivity by reducing interrupts and failed launches

Balance developer empowerment and security expertise - create partnership between security and development teams rather than throwing things “over the wall”

Consider product design choices that can reduce security risks from the start rather than only focusing on implementation-level security