What is secure programming and what mindset does it require?

Writing software that does exactly what it should — and nothing else — so it can't be misused; it requires an attacker's "trust nothing" mindset.

Secure programming means ensuring software does exactly what it's supposed to do — and nothing else. It cannot be misused or manipulated to behave unexpectedly.

Required mindset:

• Think like an attacker — Consider how each feature could be abused
• Follow best practices — Use established patterns for auth, input validation, etc.
• Program defensively — Assume all input is malicious until proven otherwise
• Trust nothing — Validate everything, even data from "trusted" internal sources

It's not about adding security as a feature — it's about writing code that is inherently resistant to misuse.