In this On Location episode during OWASP AppSec Global 2025 in Barcelona, Josh Grossman, co-leader of the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) project, shares key updates and strategic thinking behind the release of ASVS version 5. This release, years in the making, reflects a renewed focus on making the standard more approachable, practical, and actionable for development teams and security leaders alike.

ASVS is designed to provide a comprehensive and verifiable set of security requirements for building and maintaining secure applications. More than just a checklist, it offers a clear blueprint for what a secure application should look like—making it easier to benchmark progress, develop secure design requirements, and implement effective controls. Version 5 emphasizes accessibility, particularly by lowering the barrier to entry for organizations adopting Level 1 of the standard, reducing the threshold of required controls from nearly 50% to under 30%.

One of the major shifts in this new version is the tighter focus on the application itself, moving away from system-level topics like backup policies that tend to fall outside the scope of app development teams. This makes the standard more relevant to software architects, developers, and QA engineers—providing requirements that fall within their sphere of influence, while still covering the full software lifecycle from design to deployment.

Grossman explains how organizations can customize ASVS to include their internal controls and build out secure coding checklists, implementation guides, and requirements documents tailored to their environments. He also highlights how ASVS aligns with other OWASP projects, like the Cheat Sheet Series and SAMM, for both control-level guidance and organizational process development.

For security leaders looking to improve their application security programs, ASVS v5 offers a foundation to build on—clear, community-driven, and extensible. And true to OWASP’s spirit, the project is backed by a passionate community, from project co-leads like Grossman and Elar Lang to contributors around the world. As Grossman puts it, OWASP is about connection—people tackling similar challenges, working together to make software safer.

If you’re looking for a way to bring practical, standards-based security into your software lifecycle, this conversation is your starting point.

GUEST: Josh Grossman | CTO of Bounce Security and co-leader of the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) project | https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshcgrossman/

HOST: Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast | https://www.seanmartin.com

SPONSORS

Manicode Security: https://itspm.ag/manicode-security-7q8i

RESOURCES

OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS): https://owasp.org/www-project-application-security-verification-standard/

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