2 min lesson
Security's seats in the SDLC + vetting Cursor itself
Walk through the important items in "Security's seats in the SDLC + vetting Cursor itself" and give the practical point of each.
Step 1 of 4
A CISOChief Information Security Officer. The executive who owns security; usually the hardest and most important person to win over. Press Enter for the full definition. doesn't evaluate your tool in a vacuum. They run a security-in-the-SDLC program with specific gates and a vendor risk process aimed at you. Speak to both:
- Cursor sits upstream of the existing gates. Its changes still pass SASTStatic Application Security Testing. Scanning source code for vulnerabilities without running it. In AI-heavy workflows it is the automated gate that reads every generated diff before a human does. Press Enter for the full definition., DASTDynamic Application Security Testing. Probing a running application for vulnerabilities from the outside, the way an attacker would. Complements SAST, which reads the code instead of poking the app. Press Enter for the full definition., SCASoftware Composition Analysis. Scanning third-party dependencies for known vulnerabilities and license problems. Press Enter for the full definition., secrets scanning, SBOMSoftware Bill of Materials. A list of every component and dependency in a build, like an ingredients label for software. Press Enter for the full definition. and build provenance checks, just like human-written code.
- Cursor itself goes through third-party risk review. Answer with current evidence for security certifications, data handling, access controls and auditability, and recheck perishable details before promising them.
Learn more
Advanced table
Gate
- Gate
- SASTStatic Application Security Testing. Scanning source code for vulnerabilities without running it. In AI-heavy workflows it is the automated gate that reads every generated diff before a human does. Press Enter for the full definition.
- What it checks
- Static analysis of source for vulns (injection, unsafe APIs)
- Why AI doesn't change the gate
- Runs on the diff regardless of author; AI code is scanned like any code
- Gate
- DASTDynamic Application Security Testing. Probing a running application for vulnerabilities from the outside, the way an attacker would. Complements SAST, which reads the code instead of poking the app. Press Enter for the full definition.
- What it checks
- Dynamic testing of the running app
- Why AI doesn't change the gate
- Behavior-based; agnostic to authorship
- Gate
- SCASoftware Composition Analysis. Scanning third-party dependencies for known vulnerabilities and license problems. Press Enter for the full definition.
- What it checks
- Software composition - known CVEs in dependencies
- Why AI doesn't change the gate
- Catches risky deps an agent might pull in
- Gate
- Secrets scanning
- What it checks
- Hardcoded keys/tokens in the diff
- Why AI doesn't change the gate
- Critical backstop; pairs with Cursor secret-redaction
- Gate
- SBOMSoftware Bill of Materials. A list of every component and dependency in a build, like an ingredients label for software. Press Enter for the full definition.
- What it checks
- Software Bill of Materials - inventory of components
- Why AI doesn't change the gate
- Supply-chain transparency, required by many enterprises
- Gate
- SLSASupply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts. A framework for proving how a piece of software was built and that it wasn't tampered with. Press Enter for the full definition. / provenance
- What it checks
- Tamper-evident proof of how the artifact was built
- Why AI doesn't change the gate
- Attests the build pipeline, not the editor
| Gate | What it checks | Why AI doesn't change the gate |
|---|---|---|
| SASTStatic Application Security Testing. Scanning source code for vulnerabilities without running it. In AI-heavy workflows it is the automated gate that reads every generated diff before a human does. Press Enter for the full definition. | Static analysis of source for vulns (injection, unsafe APIs) | Runs on the diff regardless of author; AI code is scanned like any code |
| DASTDynamic Application Security Testing. Probing a running application for vulnerabilities from the outside, the way an attacker would. Complements SAST, which reads the code instead of poking the app. Press Enter for the full definition. | Dynamic testing of the running app | Behavior-based; agnostic to authorship |
| SCASoftware Composition Analysis. Scanning third-party dependencies for known vulnerabilities and license problems. Press Enter for the full definition. | Software composition - known CVEs in dependencies | Catches risky deps an agent might pull in |
| Secrets scanning | Hardcoded keys/tokens in the diff | Critical backstop; pairs with Cursor secret-redaction |
| SBOMSoftware Bill of Materials. A list of every component and dependency in a build, like an ingredients label for software. Press Enter for the full definition. | Software Bill of Materials - inventory of components | Supply-chain transparency, required by many enterprises |
| SLSASupply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts. A framework for proving how a piece of software was built and that it wasn't tampered with. Press Enter for the full definition. / provenance | Tamper-evident proof of how the artifact was built | Attests the build pipeline, not the editor |
Every one of these gates operates on the change, not the author. AI-assisted code passes through the identical SASTStatic Application Security Testing. Scanning source code for vulnerabilities without running it. In AI-heavy workflows it is the automated gate that reads every generated diff before a human does. Press Enter for the full definition./DASTDynamic Application Security Testing. Probing a running application for vulnerabilities from the outside, the way an attacker would. Complements SAST, which reads the code instead of poking the app. Press Enter for the full definition./SCASoftware Composition Analysis. Scanning third-party dependencies for known vulnerabilities and license problems. Press Enter for the full definition./secrets/SBOMSoftware Bill of Materials. A list of every component and dependency in a build, like an ingredients label for software. Press Enter for the full definition./SLSASupply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts. A framework for proving how a piece of software was built and that it wasn't tampered with. Press Enter for the full definition. gauntlet. Adopting Cursor requires zero weakening of their security pipeline. It slots in upstream of all of it.
Learn more
Optional practice