About
The SecAppDev Academy is an open-access learning platform created and maintained by the SecAppDev organization. It helps developers, engineers, and teams build secure software through free, high-quality educational resources focused on application security. The goal is to build and curate a growing library of high-quality, accessible application security content.
Origins of the SecAppDev Academy
The SecAppDev Academy traces its roots to the annual SecAppDev course, a week-long immersive program in secure application development. Established in 2005 by Dirk Dussart and Johan Peeters, the course was born from a shared concern over the lack of adequate software security practices in the industry. Under the leadership of Philippe De Ryck, SecAppDev has grown into an internationally acclaimed course, attracting world-class instructors and participants from around the globe. You can learn more about the course at secappdev.org.
Years ago, we experimented with recording live SecAppDev lectures, but found it interfered with the immersive classroom experience. After a hiatus, we revisited the idea with a new approach: dedicated recording sessions. In 2024, with support from Erasmushogeschool Brussel, we recorded four lectures in a professional setup. The results were excellent, prompting us to integrate recordings as a dedicated track into the SecAppDev program.
How we select
All of the content on the SecAppDev Academy is handpicked and vetted by the SecAppDev team. We include recordings and handouts from the live sessions at the annual in-person SecAppDev course. Additionally, we include public recordings of talks our faculty members delivered at other events. When selecting such talks, we aim to find those that take a deep dive into relevant application security topics.
Each video is regularly reviewed for its relevance. Should we deem a video to be no longer relevant, it will be marked as archived.
How we run the Academy
The Academy runs as a static site built with Eleventy, keeping the infrastructure simple, lightweight, and easy to maintain. All source content is versioned and maintained through GitHub, from where the site auto-deploys when changes are made to the main branch.
We host the site on Deploybase, an EU-based provider offering reliable and fast deployment worldwide. Our videos are hosted by Ignite, a privacy-first European platform offering GDPR-compliant, cookie-free video playback without tracking or consent banners.
We are grateful to Deploybase, Ignite, and GitHub for supporting the SecAppDev Academy through special arrangements for non-profit organizations. Their contributions help us share trusted knowledge with the global development community in a respectful and sustainable way.