Xobin places security and compliance at the heart of its innovation. As a talent assessment, Skill intelligence and Agentic AI Interview platform trusted by enterprises across BFSI, Retail, Automotive, and Technology sectors, we recognize that our clients entrust us with their most sensitive data—from candidate identities to AI evaluation results.

This whitepaper details how Xobin ensures secure software development even when outsourcing to third-party vendors, using a robust SSDLC framework, security-by-design principles, and a vendor oversight model. Our practices align with ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, DPDPA 2023, and EU AI Act requirements.

1.1 Vendor Onboarding & Contractual Safeguards

Every vendor undergoes pre-contractual due diligence that evaluates ISO/SOC2 certification status, secure coding maturity levels, and data protection posture. Contracts explicitly enforce adherence to Xobin's SSDLC policies.

1.2 Risk Management & Auditability

All vendor agreements include Data Processing Addendums (DPAs) referencing GDPR and DPDPA 2023. Xobin enforces audit rights to review vendor development environments and mandates quarterly compliance attestations.

2.1 Requirements & Design

During this phase, Xobin integrates threat modeling (STRIDE, DREAD) and data protection impact assessments. Functional requirement documents must embed explicit security and privacy requirements. Architectural design reviews are mandatory before coding begins, with dedicated security architects validating designs against OWASP and NIST SSDF frameworks.

2.2 Development & Coding

Xobin enforces strict coding guidelines aligned to OWASP standards. All developers, including vendor engineers, must undergo annual secure coding training. Static Application Security Testing (SAST) runs on every commit, with policies blocking merges containing vulnerabilities of severity "high" or above. All secrets and credentials must be managed in secure vaults. Open-source dependency scanning is enforced via automated tooling (Snyk, Dependabot).

2.3 Testing & Validation

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is executed in staging environments, complemented by Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) to catch runtime issues. Penetration tests are performed quarterly. Vulnerability findings are triaged using CVSS scoring and tracked until closure. All fixes are regression-tested to prevent security debt accumulation.

2.4 Deployment & Operations

All deployments follow Infrastructure as Code principles. Immutable infrastructure and blue-green deployments reduce risks of misconfigurations. Zero-trust access policies prevent direct production access by vendor developers. Just-in-Time (JIT) approval processes are enforced for any elevated privileges. Logs are centralized and continuously monitored using SIEM tools.

2.5 Continuous Improvement

Xobin integrates continuous improvement cycles by analyzing incidents and incorporating learnings into SSDLC. Security champions within each vendor team run monthly sessions to highlight best practices. Patches follow strict SLAs: 24 hours for critical, 72 hours for high, and 7 days for medium vulnerabilities.

3.1 Security-by-Design Principles

Security-by-Design ensures that protection is embedded into architecture and workflows from inception. Xobin enforces:

• (a) Least privilege access in APIs and microservices.
• (b) Data minimization by design. Only essential personal data is collected and kept.
• (c) Defense-in-depth layering across network, application and identity.
• (d) Mandatory threat modeling at each sprint planning.

Security architects are engaged early to challenge assumptions and validate design resilience.

3.2 Security-by-Default Controls

Security-by-Default ensures that applications ship with hardened, secure settings without requiring user configuration. Xobin mandates:

• (a) All APIs default to OAuth 2.0 with JWT validation.
• (b) TLS 1.3 enforced by default.
• (c) Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is compulsory for all developer and admin accounts.
• (d) Centralized logging enabled across all services.
• (e) Default deny policies for firewall and network rules.

These controls ensure that human error or misconfiguration does not expose systems.

4.1 Oversight Model

Xobin enforces multi-layered oversight on outsourced development: Access Segmentation, Continuous Monitoring, Escalation Framework. Vendor commits are continuously scanned and reviewed before integration. Vendors operate in isolated cloud sandboxes monitored by Xobin's SOC.

4.2 RACI Roles (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)

The RACI model clearly defines responsibilities across stakeholders to ensure proper accountability at every SSDLC stage.