The Importance of a Secure Ecosystem
Historically, the burden of securing software has mainly fallen on developers, who are expected to navigate intricate secure-coding protocols. Consequently, numerous security breaches originate from overlooked security threats during system design, coding errors introduced during development, or configuration changes that leave systems vulnerable to attacks.
An effective strategy we advocate is implementing a Secure-by-Design model within developer ecosystems. This approach ensures safety and security are ingrained in the ecosystem itself, thereby establishing security standards for applications and mitigating entire categories of vulnerabilities. Google is actively promoting the adoption of memory safe languages to minimize the risk of developers unintentionally introducing such vulnerabilities, thus shifting this responsibility to the language. Moreover, we are supporting the growth of the external memory-safe ecosystem by providing a $1,000,000 grant to the Rust foundation and funding initiatives to integrate Rust into the Linux Kernel.
Ensuring products are secure once they reach users necessitates focusing on refining safe coding practices, deployment procedures, and guidance during the software development phase. At Google, we remain committed to actively participating, sharing insights, and collaborating to promote new frameworks, industry best practices, and guidance to fortify the digital landscape for all users.