Agile Security: Embedding Security in Sprints and Development Cycles

Part of the Cybersecurity Skills Guide — This article is one deep-dive in our complete guide series.

By HADESS Team | February 28, 2026 | Updated: February 28, 2026 | 5 min read

Security and agile development have historically been in tension. Security wants thorough reviews; agile wants fast delivery. The solution is not bolting security onto the end of a sprint — it is making security a natural part of how teams build software. This requires changing processes, tools, and team dynamics.

Security in Sprints

Add security requirements to user stories. Instead of vague statements like “the application should be secure,” write specific acceptance criteria: “all API endpoints validate input length and type,” “authentication tokens expire after 30 minutes,” “file uploads are restricted to approved MIME types and scanned for malware.”

Include security tasks in sprint planning. Dependency updates, security configuration reviews, and fixing scanner findings should be regular backlog items, not surprise work. Treat security debt like technical debt — track it, prioritize it, and allocate time to address it.

Security-focused definition of done: code passes SAST scanning with no high/critical findings, secrets are not hardcoded, dependencies are checked against vulnerability databases, and authentication/authorization is tested.

Threat Modeling in Agile

Traditional threat modeling sessions — multi-day workshops with whiteboards and data flow diagrams — do not fit agile cadences. Lightweight threat modeling works better:

Per-feature threat modeling when a story introduces new attack surface. A new API endpoint, a file upload feature, or a third-party integration each warrant 30-60 minutes of structured thinking about what could go wrong.

Use the STRIDE model as a quick checklist: can this feature be spoofed, tampered with, repudiated, lead to information disclosure, enable denial of service, or allow privilege escalation? Not every category applies to every feature, but the framework ensures you consider each one.

Threat modeling as code uses YAML or JSON to describe threats alongside the codebase. Tools like Threagile generate threat models from architecture definitions. This makes threat models version-controlled, reviewable, and maintainable — unlike diagrams that rot in a wiki.

Keep threat models living documents. Update them when the architecture changes. A threat model from six months ago that does not reflect current data flows is worse than useless — it provides false confidence.

Security Champions

A security champion is a developer who takes on additional responsibility for security within their team. They are not security engineers — they are developers with security interest and training who act as the first line of defense.

Security champions review code with a security lens, triage scanner findings before they reach the security team, participate in threat modeling, and escalate issues that need specialized attention. They reduce the bottleneck of a centralized security team trying to review everything.

Build a champions program: identify volunteers (not voluntolds), provide training through hands-on workshops and CTF events, give them dedicated time (10-20% of their sprint), create a community of practice where champions share findings and learn from each other, and recognize their contributions in performance reviews.

Effective champions programs scale security coverage linearly with engineering headcount. Without champions, security teams become the constraint on delivery speed.

Automation

Automation makes security checks fast enough for agile workflows:

• Pre-commit hooks run secret scanners (gitleaks, truffleHog) before code reaches the repository
• CI pipelines run SAST (Semgrep, SonarQube) and dependency scanning on every pull request
• CD pipelines run container scanning and IaC validation before deployment
• Runtime monitoring detects anomalies in production

Gate deployments on scanner results. Block merges with critical findings. Provide clear remediation guidance so developers can fix issues without waiting for security team input.

Related Career Paths

Agile security practices map to Product Security Engineer and Security Manager career paths. Product security engineers embed with development teams, and security managers design the programs that make security scalable.

Next Steps

• Assess your security program design skills with the skills assessment
• Explore the skills library for DevSecOps and application security topics
• Build your leadership roadmap with the coaching tool

Related Guides in This Series

• AI/ML Security: Adversarial Attacks, Model Poisoning, and Prompt Injection
• Compliance Management: SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and HIPAA
• Security Design Patterns: Building Defensible Systems

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HADESS Team consists of cybersecurity practitioners, hiring managers, and career strategists who have collectively spent 50+ years in the field.