In 2021, we usher in a new era for the fabled OWASP Top 10. This latest release reveals some significant shake-ups, with Injection flaws finally being toppled from the top spot in favor of Broken Access Control vulnerabilities. Brand new entries like Insecure Design and Software and Data Integrity Failures show a trend towards vulnerability categories - rather than standalone security bugs - proving that the threat landscape and potential attack surface from the most common bugs are widening.

OWASP has always been the go-to authority on the most common and insidious security issues found in the software we use every day, and if there is any baseline for which organizations should strive, it’s conquering this top 10 with the help of security-trained developers. While many companies recognize this, we must start to cast a wider net with developer upskilling if the cybersecurity skills chasm is ever going to shrink, and have a positive impact on software safety in the face of crazy demand for code.

This white paper will dissect the new OWASP Top 10, including:

• The impact of vulnerability categories vs. individual problems
• Why architectural security is receiving renewed attention
• The value of the OWASP Top 10 as a baseline, and why companies need to plan their own list of developer upskilling priorities
• Why human-centered solutions for reducing vulnerabilities are a more holistic approach than tool-based defense.

‍