City Research Online

Abstract

Online freelance software development (OFSD) is a significant part of the software industry and is a thriving online economy; a recent survey by Stack Overflow reported that nearly 15% of developers are independent contractors, freelancers, or self-employed. Although security is an important quality requirement for the social sustainability of software, existing studies have shown differences in the way security issues are handled by developers working in OFSD compared to those working in organisational environments. This paper investigates the security culture of OFSD developers, and identifies significant themes in how security is conceived, practiced, and compensated. Based on in-depth interviews with 20 freelance (FL) developers, we report that (a) security thinking is evident in descriptions of their work, (b) security thinking manifests in different ways within OFSD practice, and (c) the dynamics of the freelance development ecosystem influence financial investment in secure development. Our findings help to understand the reasons why insecure software development is evident in freelance development, and they contribute toward developing security interventions that are tailored to the needs of freelance software developers.General Summary- Online freelance software development (OFSD) is a significant part of the software industry and is a thriving online economy. Although security is an important quality requirement for the social sustainability of software, existing studies have shown differences in the way security issues are handled by developers working in OFSD compared to those working in organisational environments. Based on in-depth interviews with 20 freelance developers, this paper investigates the security culture of OFSD developers, and identifies significant themes in how security is conceived, practiced, and compensated.

Publication Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Publisher Keywords:	freelance software development, payment for security, security, developer, software development in society, societal challenges of secure software development
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Science & Technology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads