Helping developers vibe code securely — while evolving your AppSec team’s practices
TL;DR for AppSec Managers
Block AI? You’ll lose developers.
Ignore AI? You’ll lose control.
Embrace AI? You gain velocity and security.
Your AppSec team leads with enablement—not fear. Training is the first, easiest, and most powerful move.
- Overview
- Training Objective
- Add Telemetry
- Embrace Vibe Coding and Upskill the AppSec Team
- Need a hand turning strategy into measurable outcomes?
Overview
This article outlines a pragmatic and forward-looking approach to enabling secure AI-assisted development within your engineering teams. We'll cover:
- What training to roll out immediately with minimal effort
- How to use telemetry to identify skills gaps and prioritise training efforts
- What training to avoid
- Upskilling your own Appsec team on vibe coding
The goal is to get ahead of AI adoption—not fear it.
Training Objective
Support developers in safely and effectively using AI code assistants (like GitHub Copilot, CodeWhisperer, etc.) by upskilling them in:
- Prompt engineering
- Secure code review
- AI governance awareness
- Practical defensive coding skills
Training Part 1 - Teach Basic Prompting + AI Use
- Course: Use Secure Code Warrior’s "Coding with AI" module.
- Time Commitment: ~60 mins.
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Focus:
- Best practices and techniques for Prompting
- Risks of AI-generated code
- Legal, licensing, and compliance considerations
- Why: Most devs are already using AI. Let’s make sure they’re using it safely and effectively.
Training Part 2 - Sharpen Code Review Muscle
- AI-generated code needs human review more than ever.
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Train developers to:
- Spot common insecure patterns introduced by LLMs and already present in your codebases
- Review for context-aware security issues (not just syntax errors)
- Use AI to assist in reviews, not replace them
- Outcome: Stronger review culture = fewer late-stage fixes = faster, more secure velocity.
Avoid Distracting Topics
- Don’t use OWASP Top 10 for LLMs unless devs are building AI products.
- Why: That framework is for AI builders, not everyday AI-assisted devs.
- Keep it practical, focused, and stack-specific.
Add Telemetry
In most organizations—unless you're in a highly regulated industry—it's not practical to enforce mandatory training for developers using AI tools.
Instead, the more feasible and scalable approach is to introduce telemetry:
- Use telemetry available from your AI coding toolset to detect which developers are using AI-assisted coding tools frequently
- Correlate this usage with security vulnerabilities or code quality patterns
- Use these insights to identify where training or guardrails are most needed
- This data-driven approach helps your AppSec team focus its efforts, demonstrate impact, and make the case for broader enablement without needing blanket enforcement.
Embrace Vibe Coding and Upskill the AppSec Team
Automate repetitive security tasks:
- Use AI code assistants and workflow tools to streamline tasks like secure code reviews and test generation
- Integrate security tooling into IDEs using MCP, and teach developers how to write rules for AI tools to follow
Upskill AppSec:
- Learn workflow orchestrators (e.g., LangChain)
- Shift from being bug hunters to AI trainers
- Support developers in using AI tooling securely and efficiently
Culture: No FUD. Just Smart Enablement.
- Your AppSec team’s posture is enabling, not blocking.
- No fear-mongering. No unnecessary restrictions.
- Be methodical, practical, and most importantly—partners to engineering, not blockers.
- The north star: Help devs ship secure code faster, not slow them down.
Need a hand turning strategy into measurable outcomes?
Secure Code Warrior’s Professional Services team specialises in building end-to-end secure-development programs. From developing your tailored vibe coding secure coding training plan to wiring Trust Agent policies and running tournament-style kick-offs, we’ve helped hundreds of engineering organisations accelerate their rollouts while lifting real-world security metrics. Our consultants can design, launch and optimise the training plan outlined above—so your developers stay productive, your CISO stays happy, and your clients stay protected. Reach out to learn how we can jump-start your secure-coding journey.
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