Getting Started with Security Basics on the Way to Finding a Specialization – ASW #339
What are some appsec basics? There's no monolithic appsec role. Broadly speaking, appsec tends to branch into engineering or compliance paths, each with different areas of focus despite having shared vocabularies and the (hopefully!) shared goal of protecting software, data, and users.
The better question is, "What do you want to secure?"
We discuss the Cybersecurity Skills Framework put together by the OpenSSF and the Linux Foundation and how you might prepare for one of its job families. The important basics aren't about memorizing lists or technical details, but demonstrating experience in working with technologies, understanding how they can fail, and being able to express concerns, recommendations, and curiosity about their security properties.
Resources:
Mike Shema
- more views on curl vulnerabilities | daniel.haxx.se
- Pre-Auth SQL Injection to RCE – Fortinet FortiWeb Fabric Connector (CVE-2025-25257)
- Risky Bulletin: Major EoT/HoT vulnerability can bring trains to sudden stops
- Writing a basic Linux device driver when you know nothing about Linux drivers or USB // crescentro.se
- [LLM] Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity – METR
- [CTF] The Ultimate Cloud Security Championship






