OWASP SAMM
Assessments
Assess and strengthen your software security practices using the OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model. Gain objective insight into maturity, reduce application risk, and support governance and compliance expectations.
Overview of the OWASP Software
Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM)
The OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model, known as SAMM, is an open framework used to assess and improve how securely an organization develops and maintains software. SAMM assessments evaluate an organization’s software security practices across governance, design, implementation, verification, and operations to determine maturity and identify improvement opportunities.
Rather than prescribing specific tools, SAMM measures the effectiveness and maturity of security practices themselves. This makes it adaptable to different technologies, development models, and organizational sizes.
-
OWASP SAMM is used by organizations that develop, buy, or maintain software and want to improve application security, reduce development risk, and demonstrate software security maturity.
-
Software is a primary attack surface for most organizations.
Insecure applications can lead to:
Data breaches and privacy incidents
Unauthorized access to systems and data
Disruption of business operations
Regulatory and contractual exposure
Loss of customer and stakeholder trust
As organizations adopt cloud-native development, APIs, and rapid deployment cycles, weaknesses in software security can scale quickly. SAMM helps organizations proactively address these risks by embedding security into development practices instead of reacting after incidents occur.
Key Components of SAMM
OWASP SAMM is structured around five core business functions that reflect how software is planned, built, tested, and operated in real organizations.
These functions provide a consistent way to assess current security maturity and identify where targeted improvements will have the greatest impact.
-
SAMM clarifies roles, funding, policies, and expectations so software security is planned - not improvised. Strong governance ensures that software security is treated as a business function, not just a technical task.
-
Threat Modeling & Privacy-by-Design. SAMM introduces structured design reviews, data flow analysis, and threat modeling early in the lifecycle.
Strong design practices reduce the likelihood that vulnerabilities are built into applications from the start.
-
Secure Coding & DevSecOps. SAMM embeds secure coding practices and automated security checks directly into development workflows.
Implementation focuses on how securely software is actually built. Strong implementation practices reduce common coding flaws and limit the introduction of avoidable vulnerabilities.
-
Testing That Matches Real Risk. SAMM ensures security testing (manual + automated) is consistent, repeatable, and proportionate to application risks.
Verification focuses on testing and validating that security controls are working as intended. Strong verification practices help organizations identify issues before software reaches production.
-
Maintaining Security After Release. SAMM brings maturity to patching, dependency management, incident response, and monitoring.
Operations focuses on maintaining security after software is deployed. Strong operations practices ensure that applications remain secure as environments, threats, and dependencies change.
Benefits of Implementing
SAMM for Organizations
Implementing OWASP SAMM provides organizations with a structured, repeatable way to improve software security maturity over time. Rather than relying on isolated security initiatives, SAMM helps build a sustainable program that aligns security practices with business objectives and enables organizations to move from reactive application security to a proactive, maturity-driven security program.
Reduced application security risk
Identify and address weaknesses earlier in the development lifecycle, lowering the likelihood of exploitable vulnerabilities reaching production.
Improved consistency across teams
Establish common security expectations and practices across development, operations, and security functions.
Improved executive reporting
Translate technical security practices into maturity metrics leadership can understand and track over time.
Stronger alignment with compliance and regulatory expectations
Support regulatory, contractual, and governance requirements related to secure software development and data protection.
More efficient use of security resources
Focus investment on maturity improvements that deliver measurable risk reduction
Better visibility into software security maturity
Gain a clear, evidence-based understanding of where software security stands today and where improvement is needed.
Tips for Organizations Looking to Adopt SAMM
Adopting OWASP SAMM is most effective when it is approached as a continuous improvement program, not a one-time assessment.
Taking a structured, phased approach helps organizations achieve measurable security maturity gains without disrupting development velocity.
Organizations that see the strongest results typically focus on practical, achievable steps rather than attempting to reach advanced maturity levels immediately.
-
Establish a clear view of current maturity before setting improvement goals.
-
Focus on improving practices that reduce risk to critical applications and business processes first.
-
SAMM works best when software security is treated as a shared responsibility.
-
Progressing from one maturity level to the next takes time and operational change.
-
Embed SAMM practices into SDLC, DevOps, and governance workflows rather than creating parallel processes.
-
Use maturity levels to demonstrate improvement and guide future investment.
OWASP SAMM Assessments
Bamboo Data Consulting offers a full range of OWASP SAMM assessment and improvement services to support organizations at every stage of software security maturity. Our services are designed to provide objective insight, practical guidance, and measurable improvement aligned with your development and governance environment.
SAMM self assessments help organizations establish an internal baseline view of current software security maturity using internal teams. They provide a practical starting point for understanding how security practices align with SAMM criteria and where early improvement efforts should focus.
Note: Self assessments can introduce unintentional bias or optimistic scoring, particularly when evidence is limited or practices are informal.
OWASP SAMM Self Assessments
-
This option is well suited for organizations that:
Want an initial internal snapshot of current practices
Are early in formalizing software security
Have strong internal documentation and governance
An external SAMM assessment provides an independent, objective evaluation of software security maturity. It delivers a third-party perspective that helps validate reported practices and provides leadership with credible, evidence-based insight into maturity levels.
OWASP SAMM External Assessment
-
This option is well suited for organizations that:
Require third-party validation of maturity levels
Want an unbiased view of security practices
Need credible reporting for leadership, auditors, or partners
OWASP SAMM Validation Audit
Actionable Recommendations and Roadmap
Specific, prioritized improvements based on your environment and capabilities. The roadmap focuses on practical steps that strengthen detection, containment, recovery, and overall incident response maturity.
-
This option supports organizations that:
Need to demonstrate software security maturity to customers or partners
Require independent verification of maturity claims
Want confidence that practices are consistently applied
SAMM assessment training equips internal teams with the knowledge to perform and maintain SAMM assessments independently. Training covers SAMM structure, scoring methodology, evidence collection, and interpretation of results.
OWASP SAMM Assessment Training
-
This option is ideal for organizations that:
Want to build in-house SAMM assessment capability
Need to train security, development, or governance teams
Plan to perform ongoing maturity tracking
Why Bamboo Data Consulting
and How We Can Help
Bamboo Data Consulting brings a practical, business-focused approach to OWASP SAMM assessments.
We understand that software security maturity is not just a technical issue. It is a governance, risk, and operational challenge that must align with how your organization actually builds and maintains software.
Whether you are establishing a baseline, validating maturity, or building a long-term software security program, Bamboo Data Consulting helps you use OWASP SAMM as a practical tool for measurable improvement.
If you are looking for a clear, structured way to assess and improve your software security maturity, our OWASP SAMM assessment services provide the insight and guidance needed to move forward with confidence.
-
SAMM assessments are built around:
Translating technical maturity into business risk and impact
Aligning software security practices with governance and compliance expectations
Providing clear, prioritized recommendations leadership can act on
Supporting sustainable improvement, not just one-time scoring
Integrating SAMM into real SDLC and DevOps environments
Frequently Asked Questions
-
A SAMM self assessment is performed internally and is useful for baseline planning. An external SAMM assessment is performed by an independent third party and provides objective validation and executive-level credibility.
-
OWASP SAMM is not a compliance standard. It is a maturity framework used to improve software security practices and support governance, risk management, and regulatory expectations.
-
Many organizations perform a SAMM assessment annually or after major changes to development processes to track maturity improvements and identify new risks.
-
OWASP SAMM helps reduce risk by embedding security into development processes, identifying maturity gaps, and prioritizing improvements that prevent vulnerabilities from reaching production.