Andrew van der Stock — Taking Application Security to the Masses

How does a volunteer security community reach the millions of people who build software? Andrew van der Stock reflects on that challenge after becoming OWASP’s executive director in 2020. He traces his early application security work and contributions to OWASP projects, then explains the foundation’s purpose and the organizational work behind its public resources. Chris and Robert ask about membership, support from companies that use those resources, and ways to welcome people who are new to security. Andrew also discusses the disruption of 2020 and plans for OWASP’s twentieth anniversary. This archive conversation captures his ambitions for making practical application security knowledge more accessible while building a stronger, more sustainable community around it.The Application Security Podcast is brought to you by Security Journey.About Security JourneySecurity Journey provides application security education for developers and everyone in the software development lifecycle.→ Learn more about Security JourneyConnect with Andrew van der Stock:→ Andrew van der Stock at OWASPMentioned in this episode:→ OWASP Foundation→ OWASP Developer Guide→ OWASP Proactive Controls→ ZAPFollow the Application Security Podcast:➜ Home➜ X➜ LinkedIn➜ YouTube➜ Instagram➜ FacebookChapters:00:00 Taking application security to the masses02:42 Andrew’s early AppSec and OWASP work06:17 Becoming OWASP’s executive director10:35 OWASP’s mission and community12:19 Application security beyond the web13:47 Why individuals and companies join OWASP18:07 Welcoming newcomers into security20:32 How OWASP navigated 202023:25 A longer-term vision for the foundation26:23 Planning OWASP’s twentieth anniversary28:20 How listeners can participate