Security Basics for Startups
February 17, 2026
Security fundamentals for startup founders: OWASP Top 10, secrets management, dependency scanning, and when to run your first penetration test.
OWASP Top 10 for Founders
The OWASP Top 10 is a ranked list of the most critical web application security risks, updated by the Open Worldwide Application Security Project. The 2021 edition has three items that every founder should be able to explain and prevent. Number one is Broken Access Control: users can access data or perform actions they shouldn't — for example, viewing another user's records by changing an ID in the URL. This is the most prevalent category in real-world breaches and is prevented by checking authorisation on every request at the server level, not just in the UI.
Number two is Cryptographic Failures: sensitive data — passwords, API keys, health records, payment data — is stored or transmitted without adequate encryption. The minimum standard is bcrypt or Argon2 for password hashing (never MD5 or SHA-1), TLS 1.2+ for all data in transit, and AES-256 for sensitive data at rest. Number three is Injection: SQL, NoSQL, OS command, and LDAP injection attacks occur when untrusted user input is included directly in a query or command. Use parameterised queries in every database interaction, never concatenate user input into SQL strings, and use ORM frameworks like Prisma or Drizzle that handle parameterisation automatically. These three categories cover the vast majority of startup security incidents; address them first before investing in more complex security programs.
Secrets Management
A committed secret — an API key, database password, or Stripe webhook secret pushed to a git repository — is permanently compromised. Even if you delete the commit, the secret is visible in the git history, and automated tools scan public GitHub repositories for secrets continuously. The safest approach to secrets management starts with two rules: every secret lives in an environment variable, never in the codebase, and every new repository starts with a .gitignore that excludes .env files.
The defense-in-depth approach adds two layers beyond .gitignore. Install git-secrets or truffleHog as a pre-commit hook to block commits that contain patterns matching API keys, passwords, or private keys. For production secrets, use the secret management system of your deployment platform — Vercel and Railway both provide encrypted environment variable storage with audit logs. For complex multi-service setups, AWS Secrets Manager and HashiCorp Vault provide secret rotation, fine-grained access controls, and audit trails. If a secret is ever accidentally committed, rotate it immediately — assume it was observed the moment it was pushed, regardless of how quickly you deleted it.
Dependency Scanning
The npm audit command runs in 30 seconds, costs nothing, and shows every known vulnerability in your project's dependency tree. Run it in your CI/CD pipeline on every commit so that new vulnerabilities are caught at the moment a package is updated, not six months later when a researcher publishes a CVE. npm audit reports vulnerabilities by severity level — critical and high severities should block deployment; moderate and low can be triaged separately.
Snyk's free tier goes further than npm audit: it automatically opens pull requests to upgrade vulnerable dependencies, monitors your repository continuously, and provides remediation guidance when there's no direct upgrade path. GitHub Advanced Security, which is free for public repositories, scans every push for secrets and known vulnerable code patterns. For private repositories, enabling Dependabot in GitHub settings provides automated dependency update pull requests with changelog summaries — the configuration is three lines in a YAML file and takes five minutes to set up. These three tools together — npm audit in CI, Snyk for monitoring, Dependabot for updates — constitute a dependency security program that costs $0 and catches the large majority of dependency-related vulnerabilities.
When to Pen Test
A penetration test is a security assessment where an expert attempts to compromise your application using the same techniques an attacker would use, then reports what they found. The right time for a first penetration test is before your first paying customer or before reaching 10,000 users — whichever comes first. At that scale, a basic web application security scan using tools like OWASP ZAP or Burp Suite is sufficient, and many security consultants offer this for $1,500–$3,000 for a small application.
HackerOne and Bugcrowd operate bug bounty programs that provide a cost-effective alternative to single-point penetration tests at scale. A public bug bounty program invites security researchers to find and responsibly disclose vulnerabilities in exchange for financial rewards. The minimum reward for a valid critical finding is typically $1,000–$5,000 on HackerOne's platform. For startups that have launched publicly, a bug bounty program is often more thorough than a one-time pen test because it runs continuously with dozens of researchers. Set a limited scope for early bug bounty programs — the main application only, no employee systems, no third-party services — to keep costs predictable and focus researcher attention on the highest-risk surface area.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum security setup before launching a SaaS product? Before accepting user data, implement four things: HTTPS on all pages with a valid TLS certificate, parameterised queries for all database interactions, bcrypt password hashing with a work factor of at least 10, and HTTP security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options). These four measures address the most commonly exploited vulnerabilities without requiring a dedicated security engineer.
How do I handle a security vulnerability reported by a researcher? Acknowledge it within 24 hours, assess severity, fix it within a timeline proportional to severity (critical within 24 hours, high within 7 days, medium within 30 days), notify affected users if their data may have been compromised, and thank the researcher. If you don't have a formal vulnerability disclosure policy, publish one before you launch — a simple responsible disclosure page at yourdomain.com/security sets expectations and encourages researchers to report rather than exploit.
What is CSRF and how do I prevent it? Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is an attack where a malicious website tricks a logged-in user's browser into making an unwanted request to your application. Modern SaaS frameworks handle CSRF protection automatically — Next.js with server actions, Django, and Rails all include CSRF tokens by default. Verify that your framework's CSRF protection is enabled and that you're not disabling it for API routes that accept cookie-based authentication.
Should I use a Web Application Firewall? For most early-stage startups, a WAF is not the highest-priority security investment. Cloudflare's free tier includes basic DDoS protection and some WAF rules without additional cost. AWS WAF is available for $5 per month plus per-rule charges. If you're processing payments or handling healthcare data, a WAF becomes more important. Prioritise fixing application-level vulnerabilities from the OWASP Top 10 before adding a WAF — a WAF doesn't compensate for broken access control in your application code.
What compliance standards should a startup care about? SOC 2 is the most commonly requested compliance certification by enterprise customers; it typically takes 6–12 months and costs $15,000–$50,000 with a compliance platform like Vanta or Drata that automates evidence collection. GDPR applies if you have EU users and requires a privacy policy, data processing agreements with vendors, and a deletion process. HIPAA applies if you handle protected health information in the US. PCI DSS applies if you store, process, or transmit cardholder data — using Stripe handles most PCI obligations for you. Start with GDPR compliance and SOC 2 Type 1 when your first enterprise customer asks.
