The Secure Code Alliance (SCA) is a collaborative initiative focused on raising the bar for secure software development across industries, particularly those aligned with critical infrastructure, defense, and federal compliance. Established to address the increasing need for verified software trustworthiness, the SCA offers a unified framework for organizations and professionals to demonstrate their commitment to secure coding practices, threat-informed architecture, and disciplined software lifecycle management. It combines technical rigor with third-party validation, moving beyond self-attestation to provide an objective, measurable pathway for evaluating and certifying secure development environments.
At its core, SCA provides a dual-track certification model; one for organizations and one for individual professionals. For organizations, the Certified Organization for Development Excellence (CODE) framework includes three progressive levels of certification:
Through this tiered approach, the SCA provides a scalable model that accommodates a wide range of software development organizations from small, agile vendors to large-scale defense contractors allowing each to pursue certification appropriate to their operational scope and maturity. Each CODE level results in a conformity designation (e.g., Strictly Conforms, Conforms, Significant Deficiency, or Material Weakness), offering clear and actionable outcomes that regulators, acquisition officials, and supply chain partners can rely on for risk-informed decisions.
These certifications are supported by Third-Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs) formally accredited by The Cyber AB, ensuring all evaluations are conducted with impartiality, technical depth, and alignment to national cybersecurity mandates. Participating organizations, known as Secure Development Organizations (SDOs), must undergo comprehensive audits of their policies, secure coding practices, development workflows, and vulnerability management systems. This process includes artifact reviews, developer interviews, and environmental walkthroughs culminating in a formal Report on Conformity (ROC) that stakeholders can trust during procurement or compliance evaluations.
On the individual side, SCA offers certifications through its partner, SAICO (SCF Assessor and Instructor Certification Organization), which oversees training, credentialing, and quality assurance for professional roles such as SCA Practitioner and SCA Architect. These certifications are rooted in the Secure Controls Framework (SCF) Body of Knowledge and are designed to cultivate real-world expertise in secure coding, threat modeling, and software security architecture. SAICO also manages continuing education requirements to ensure that certified professionals stay current with evolving threats and standards.
By integrating the efforts of practitioners and organizations, the SCA fosters a comprehensive ecosystem of trust. It enables supply chain resilience by ensuring that secure software isn’t just an aspiration, it’s verifiable, repeatable, and standardized.
The SCA is also designed to align tightly with national cybersecurity priorities, particularly those defined by Executive Order 14028, which mandates enhanced software supply chain security, and the Department of Defense’s Software Fast Track (SWFT) initiative, which seeks to expedite the Authorization to Operate (ATO) process for software products. By integrating verified software development artifacts—such as SBOMs, development workflows, and security control implementations—into a third-party validated assessment model, the SCA enables faster, more transparent adoption of secure technologies across the federal ecosystem.
The value of joining the SCA ecosystem extends beyond compliance. It provides market differentiation, accelerates procurement approvals, improves internal security processes, and reduces the risks associated with insecure software dependencies. Importantly, it also aligns with broader national cybersecurity strategies and helps close the gap between policy and implementation.
Secure Concepts Group (SCG) is the creator and intellectual property steward of the Secure Code Alliance (SCA), a specialized initiative aimed at improving software security through standardized development practices and third-party certification. As the governing entity behind SCA, SCG is responsible for developing, maintaining, and protecting all SCA-related assets, including certification schemes, assessment criteria, and training content. SCG sets the requirements under which its key ecosystem partners, The Cyber AB and SAICO, operate, ensuring that organizational-level and individual-level certifications align with national security standards and best practices. Through its leadership and oversight, SCG drives innovation in secure software development, contributing to broader efforts to mitigate cyber risks across public and private sectors.
The Cyber AB serves as the exclusive Accreditation Body for the Secure Code Alliance (SCA), playing a central role in maintaining the integrity, independence, and technical rigor of the SCA certification ecosystem. In this capacity, The Cyber AB is responsible for accrediting SCF Third-Party Assessment Organizations (SCF 3PAOs) and registering Secure Development Organizations (SDOs) that seek certification under the SCA. It ensures that these entities adhere to the standards and requirements defined by SCG, while also managing conflicts of interest, overseeing assessment quality, and facilitating secure information exchange. By governing the organizational-level certification process—including the issuance of the SCF Certified – SCA CODE X credential—The Cyber AB ensures trust, consistency, and credibility across all assessments, ultimately supporting national and defense cybersecurity objectives.
The SCA Assessor and Instructor Certification Organization (SAICO) plays a critical role in supporting the Secure Code Alliance (SCA) by overseeing all individual-level training, certification, and quality assurance activities. SAICO is responsible for developing, maintaining, and delivering the certification programs for SCA roles such as SCA Practitioner and SCA Architect, ensuring that professionals involved in secure software development possess the necessary technical expertise and credentials. It establishes and enforces the qualification standards for assessors, including educational background, professional certifications, and adherence to the Secure Controls Framework (SCF) Body of Knowledge. SAICO also manages the accreditation of trainers and ensures instructional consistency across the ecosystem. Through its governance of the human element in the SCA program, SAICO helps ensure the competency, consistency, and credibility of the individuals conducting or supporting third-party assessments within the SCA framework.
For more detailed information about certification tracks, assessment processes, ecosystem benefits, and how your organization can get involved, please visit the official Secure Code Alliance website at Secure Code Alliance.