PM & Design Security Top 10
When product/design owns real features, security becomes part of product quality
A practical security checklist for prototype → MVP → production pipelines. Perfect for PMs, designers, and cross-functional leads owning feature delivery from concept to launch.
1. Feature Creep vs. Security Debt
Risk
Moving fast with permissive defaults leads to abuse and brand harm.
Playbook
Establish baseline secure defaults and adopt threat-modeling during feature scoping.
Real-World Case Study
Zoom "Zoombombing" (2020)
Security defaults inadequate for widespread use, passwords and waiting rooms made default after incidents
2. Auth/Identity as an Afterthought
Risk
Piecemeal authentication implementation with poor token and key hygiene.
Playbook
Choose an auth model early, map actors and roles, enforce MFA, establish key management practices.
Real-World Case Study
Microsoft Storm-0558 (2023)
Stolen signing key enabled token forgery across multiple tenant environments
3. Data Exposure in "Non-Prod"
Risk
Test environments with real PII, misconfigured low-code backends, and public APIs by default.
Playbook
Separate tenants, scrub sensitive data, private by default, review data generators.
Real-World Case Study
Microsoft Power Apps Portals (2021)
~38 million records exposed via default public APIs in low-code platform
4. API Surface Sprawl
Risk
Prototype endpoints linger in production, Insecure Direct Object References (IDORs), predictable object IDs.
Playbook
Maintain endpoint inventory, implement authorization tests, create endpoint sunsetting plans.
Real-World Case Study
Parler Data Breach (2021)
Public API with sequential IDs and unstripped metadata enabled mass scraping
5. Access Control Gaps (RBAC/ABAC)
Risk
"Everyone can see everything" defaults, transitive friend/tenant access vulnerabilities.
Playbook
Create role matrix early, implement least privilege, conduct design reviews for data access.
Real-World Case Study
Facebook/Cambridge Analytica (2018)
Platform permission design abused at massive scale for political manipulation
6. Third-Party & Vendor Risk
Risk
SaaS providers, SDKs, agencies, or vendors become your primary attack vector.
Playbook
Use minimal scopes, rotate keys regularly, conduct vendor reviews, implement kill-switches.
Real-World Case Study
Target Breach (2013)
HVAC vendor credentials led to POS malware installation and massive card data breach
7. Insecure Defaults in Tools
Risk
Permissive boilerplate templates, low-code/no-code misconfigurations, public database rules.
Playbook
Use secure templates, implement checklists, establish CI security policies.
Real-World Case Study
Firebase Misconfiguration (2020)
Thousands of Android apps leaking sensitive data due to default Firebase configurations
8. Lack of Logging/Monitoring
Risk
Cannot detect abuse patterns or prove what happened during incidents.
Playbook
Implement audit trails, set up alerting, monitor certificate expiry, maintain immutable logs.
Real-World Case Study
Equifax Breach (2017)
Expired certificate disabled security monitoring, extending breach detection time to 76 days
9. Ambiguous Ownership
Risk
"Who approves security?" gets answered after product launch.
Playbook
Create RACI matrix for security sign-offs across prototype/MVP/production phases.
10. Hand-off Gaps (Prototype → MVP → Prod)
Risk
Critical assumptions die during hand-offs, production readiness not re-validated.
Playbook
Implement stage gates, use checklists, conduct chaos testing, establish rollback contracts.
Real-World Case Study
TSB Bank IT Migration (2018)
Botched system cutover led to months of outages and regulatory fines
Security as Product Quality
Each vulnerability maps to a workshop and checklist. Build security into your product development process from day one.