EP 1 - NextRoll’s Nico Valcarcel: How to Build Empathy Between Developers and Security

In this first episode, NextRoll’s Product Security Lead Nicolas Valcarcel shares how since he was 15 he wanted to work in security. However, his career path has been far from conventional. 

By being part of developer teams in early-stage startups and working hand to hand with founding teams, he has been able to get a grasp on how developers and security teams see the same product in very different ways, and the common friction points that come from their interactions.

In this episode, Nico shared his experience and taught us his secret sauce: Advocating for engineering in the security team and advocating for security in the engineering team.

 

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Nico's background and how he landed in the application security field.
• How developers and security people think differently.
• How to make developers embrace security values.
• How to approach proof of vulnerability requests.
• The importance of integrating decision makers in product and application security.
• Advice for AppSec managers to build strong relationships that work for both, security and engineering teams.
• What critical skills you need to build an ideal AppSec team.
• Keys to success in operating a Security Champions program.
• 3 Pieces of advice for leaders that want to build and scale an AppSec program.