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SEC-303 Security

Application Security & Secure Coding

Write and review code attackers can't easily bend: the OWASP Top 10 taught by exploiting then fixing each class in a deliberately vulnerable app — injection, broken auth, access-control flaws, SSRF and friends — plus the code-review checklists that transfer the skill to daily work.

B3Practitioner
5modules
33skill atoms
4role journeys
Curriculum

What this course covers.

5 modules, 33 named skill atoms. Expand any module to see them.

1Injection Family6 skill atoms
SQL/command/template injectionparameterisationprepared statements & ORM pitfallsNoSQL injection patternssafe subprocess invocationallow-list input validation
2AuthN/AuthZ Flaws7 skill atoms
session handlingIDOR/access-control breaksHttpOnly & SameSite cookie flagssession fixation and rotation on loginmissing function-level access controlcentralised authorization enforcementJWT verification pitfalls
3Input & Output Discipline7 skill atoms
validationencodingdeserialization riskcontext-aware output encoding against XSSContent-Security-Policy as defense in depthpath traversal & canonicalisationfile upload type & size validation
4Server-Side Risks7 skill atoms
SSRFfile handlingmisconfigurationcloud metadata endpoint protectionegress allow-listing for outbound fetchessecurity response headersverbose error & stack trace leakage
5Fix-and-Review Lab6 skill atoms
patch the vulnerable appreview-checklist practiceregression test per fixdiff-focused secure code reviewremediation writeup with severityverifying fixes without behaviour breakage
Where it fits

SEC-303 in the role journeys.

This course appears in 4 of our 45 role journeys. Here is what a learner takes immediately before and after it in each.

AI Security Engineer

Practitioner stage
SEC-501SEC-303SEC-502

Software Engineer (AI-era)

Professional stage
DEV-401SEC-303DEV-204

AppSec Engineer

Foundation stage
SEC-101SEC-303SEC-103

QA / Test Engineer (AI-era)

Practitioner stage
AI-310SEC-303DEV-301

Roles this course serves

The capability ladder

This course is authored to band B3.

Every course we run is written to one rung of the CASI ladder, so a plan can be assembled to take a team from where they are to where they need to be.

What do B1–B6 mean?The CASI Capability Ladder — click to expand

Every course targets a band on the CASI Capability Ladder — our six-band proficiency scale, anchored to open standards (O*NET, ESCO, NICE, NIST AI RMF, Bloom's). A band tells you how deep a course goes, and what evidence proves it.

What the learner can doTypical evidence
B1
AwareUnderstands concepts and vocabulary; uses tools with guidance
Knowledge checks
B2
FoundationPerforms standard tasks correctly in familiar contexts
Guided labs, autograded exercises
B3
PractitionerDelivers complete pieces of work independently
Scenario labs, proctored hands-on exams
B4
ProfessionalHandles production-grade complexity, trade-offs and failure modes
Break-fix drills, design defenses
B5
AdvancedEngineers systems end-to-end under constraints; leads others
Rubric-scored capstones, vivas
B6
ExpertSets direction; recognised authority across teams
Portfolio + panel evaluation

A note on B6. Courses in this catalog target B1–B5. B6 is not taught — it is recognised, through a portfolio and a panel, once someone is setting direction for others. Every journey here is built to land a learner at B5.

Next step

Run SEC-303 for your team.

This course runs at several lengths depending on how deep you need to go and how much of it your people already have. Tell us who is being trained and we will scope it.

Add it to a training plan Talk to our team Check your team’s level free