Independent software vendors (ISVs) and IoT companies face unique security risks due to long product lifecycles, third-party maintenance, and limited oversight—making “secure by design” practices critical.
Organizations that build technology products—whether software, hardware, or both—operate in one of the most complex cybersecurity landscapes. Unlike internal software development teams, ISVs and IoT providers don’t always control where, how, or by whom their products are maintained. Their solutions must often function across heterogeneous environments and remain secure over extended product lifecycles.
This creates a high-stakes scenario. A single vulnerability in a device or product can lead to operational disruptions, regulatory violations, reputational damage, or even safety risks. As a result, secure development practices aren’t just a nice-to-have—they’re a non-negotiable requirement for these companies.
Security Compass’ SD Elements platform is purpose-built to help ISVs and IoT companies address these challenges through automated security workflows, early threat modeling, and alignment with compliance frameworks. The result is a scalable, developer-friendly solution for embedding security into every development lifecycle phase—before issues become expensive or difficult to fix.
Beyond automation, SD Elements helps teams save time and money while improving their overall security posture. It provides tailored security recommendations based on your project’s technology stack, reducing the need for external consultants or manual research. The built-in countermeasures and how-tos guide developers step-by-step, ensuring that secure coding practices are implemented correctly. Because the platform’s content is vetted and widely used across the industry, teams can rely on accurate, high-quality guidance—without the overhead of building their own internal standards library. By mapping tasks to multiple compliance standards, SD Elements removes the guesswork and redundancy that often come with manual reconciliation efforts.
Why ISVs and IoT Companies Face Higher Security Risks
Figure 1: DevSecOps survey results highlighting the most effective security practices, with early risk assessment ranked highest by respondents.
ISVs and IoT vendors have limited control over product environments and lifespans, increasing the likelihood of vulnerabilities being exploited.
Building software is one thing—but deploying it into unknown, unregulated, and long-living environments is quite another. Independent software vendors (ISVs) and IoT manufacturers ship products that are often maintained by third parties, integrated into unpredictable infrastructures, and expected to operate securely for years without direct oversight.
This reality makes traditional reactive security measures insufficient. Patching delays, inconsistent configurations, and unmonitored attack surfaces become persistent risks. A single overlooked vulnerability can escalate into a major breach when control is lost after deployment.
According to the SANS 2023 DevSecOps Survey, risk assessment before development begins was rated as the most useful security practice, even more than automated code scanning or penetration testing.
Organizations are increasingly aware that shifting left—starting security work early in the lifecycle—is essential, particularly when failure could lead to public exposure, regulatory issues, or costly product recalls.
How Early Threat Modeling and Risk Assessments Reduce Risk
SD Elements operationalizes these early risk assessments through an automated workflow that begins with a detailed intake survey. This survey gathers information about the application’s architecture, environment, development tools, and compliance needs. From this profile, SD Elements creates a tailored threat model and generates actionable developer tasks—ensuring that security best practices and compliance controls are integrated from the start. Developers know exactly what needs to be done and why based on project-specific risks.
Integrating security early in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) is the most effective way to harden technology products.
Security by design starts before the first line of code is written. For ISVs and IoT companies, that means building secure architectures from the ground up and proactively identifying vulnerabilities before they make it into production.
The most effective methods include:
- Performing threat modeling and risk assessments early in the design phase
- Integrating security controls throughout the SDLC
- Maintaining compliance with frameworks like ISO 27001 and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework
- Automating testing and compliance validation to ensure consistency at scale
According to the SANS 2023 DevSecOps Survey, 85.4% of organizations found “upfront risk assessments before development starts” to be the most useful security measure overall—highlighting the growing industry consensus around early intervention.
Still, knowing the risk isn’t the same as solving it. In the Cycode State of Application Security Posture Management 2025, 45% of organizations cited “visibility into security risk” as their top application security concern—showing a clear gap between awareness and execution.
Bridging that gap requires automation, standardization, and tooling that supports secure development from day one.
How SD Elements Automates Secure Development and Compliance
SD Elements automates threat modeling and security task management by linking application context to compliance frameworks and DevSecOps tools.
Security at scale demands automation—and that’s where SD Elements delivers. Instead of relying on manual threat modeling or inconsistent documentation, SD Elements begins with a project intake survey that collects critical details: technology stack, architecture, environment, development tools, and relevant compliance requirements.
From there, the platform automatically generates a threat model tailored to the specific project. This model is mapped to detailed, actionable security tasks sourced from SD Elements’ comprehensive content library—covering secure coding, architecture decisions, and regulatory controls.
Figure 2: SD Elements automation workflow—from profiling to task validation.
These tasks are then automatically exported into the development team’s issue tracking tools, like Jira or GitHub, so security work is fully embedded in the existing workflow. As developers close issues, SD Elements syncs the completion status back into the system, providing real-time visibility into security progress.
Even better, SD Elements integrates with scanning and testing tools. That means automated validation checks can be triggered to ensure controls are properly implemented—without waiting for a manual review or end-of-cycle audit.
And because SD Elements adapts dynamically, teams can update the project profile at any time. Whether the architecture changes or a new compliance framework comes into scope, the threat model updates accordingly—automatically closing irrelevant tasks and flagging new ones.
The result is a scalable, automated security workflow that keeps teams compliant, proactive, and in control throughout the SDLC.
Specialized Support for IoT and Hardware Development
SD Elements supports hardware-specific risk factors by tailoring tasks to IoT architecture, supply chain threats, and unsafe programming languages.
IoT devices come with a whole new layer of complexity. Unlike traditional software, hardware-based systems are often constrained by limited resources, rely heavily on third-party components, and are commonly written in lower-level languages like C or C++—which are more prone to memory and buffer vulnerabilities.
Because these systems operate in physical environments, a security flaw can affect not just data but actual device behavior—making the risks tangible and immediate. Adding to the challenge, these devices may run for years without updates, especially in industrial or embedded settings.
SD Elements addresses these unique risks by enabling teams to select IoT-specific configurations during the project setup phase. The platform accounts for:
- Use of unsafe languages (like C/C++)
- Constraints on traditional security tooling (e.g., lack of endpoint protection or scanning)
- Hardware/software integration points
- Third-party component risks across the supply chain
By incorporating this context from the start, SD Elements generates hardware-aware security tasks—ensuring that even resource-constrained or embedded environments follow secure design principles.
This approach empowers IoT and hardware teams to address security proactively, even when traditional tools fall short.
Conclusion: Why Security by Design Is Non-Negotiable for ISVs and IoT Companies
Security by design, implemented early and automated with tools like SD Elements, is essential for sustainable, compliant product development.
The stakes for ISVs and IoT companies are simply too high to leave security until the end. Products operate in unpredictable environments, under third-party control, and often for years without direct access. That means vulnerabilities introduced during development can have long-lasting consequences.
SD Elements simplifies this shift by saving time, reducing reliance on external security experts, and helping teams stay ahead of evolving standards—without sacrificing velocity.
By embedding security requirements directly into the development process, organizations can mitigate risk before it becomes embedded in their architecture. Threat modeling early, aligning with compliance frameworks, and automating enforcement are not just best practices but survival strategies.
SD Elements empowers organizations to scale this approach by automating security tasks, integrating seamlessly with developer workflows, and ensuring compliance is met continuously—not just at audit time.
As regulatory pressure increases and attack surfaces continue to grow, ISVs and IoT teams prioritizing security by design will have a clear advantage—in resilience, reputation, and time to market.
Ready to see how SD Elements can streamline security for your team?
Explore our interactive product tour or book a personalized demo to experience it in action.