A Qualitative Analysis into What Factors Motivate Software Developers to Produce Secure Web Applications

Abstract

Organizations and individuals continue to move their business processes to the web. While many of these web applications are secure, a considerable number of these web applications have been found to have vulnerabilities and cause data breaches. The study's research question was: What factors motivate software developers to produce secure web applications? The study used a generic qualitative research design and utilized semi-structured interview questions to answer this question. The researcher interviewed thirteen web application developers who worked in the United States and had been developing web applications for organizations for over a year. The interviews were conducted through audio-recorded Zoom meetings. The audio recordings were transcribed and used as the study’s data. The interview data was analyzed for commonalities, and thematic analysis was used to identify four themes: processes, compliance, leadership, and management support. The four themes of processes, compliance, leadership, and management support, as well as the associated categories of the themes, can provide organizational management suggestions to help motivate software developers to produce more secure web applications. The findings showed that a more holistic approach should be used by encompassing parts of each theme to create a software development culture focused on security.