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.

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Connect with Andrew van der Stock:
→ Andrew van der Stock at OWASP

Mentioned in this episode:
→ OWASP Foundation
→ OWASP Developer Guide
→ OWASP Proactive Controls
→ ZAP

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Chapters:
00:00 Taking application security to the masses
02:42 Andrew’s early AppSec and OWASP work
06:17 Becoming OWASP’s executive director
10:35 OWASP’s mission and community
12:19 Application security beyond the web
13:47 Why individuals and companies join OWASP
18:07 Welcoming newcomers into security
20:32 How OWASP navigated 2020
23:25 A longer-term vision for the foundation
26:23 Planning OWASP’s twentieth anniversary
28:20 How listeners can participate