What is OWASP? — UK Software Development Guide

4 min readJune 2025ClickMasters Technical TeamReviewed by James Whitmore, CTO
what is owasp

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OWASP (Open Worldwide Application Security Project) is a non-profit foundation that produces free security resources for software developers. The most well-known output is the OWASP Top 10 — a list of the 10 most critical web application security risks, updated periodically. The current OWASP Top 10 includes: Broken Access Control, Cryptographic Failures, Injection, Insecure Design, Security Misconfiguration, Vulnerable Components, Authentication Failures, Software Integrity Failures, Logging Failures, and SSRF.

Owasp in the UK

OWASP has specific UK compliance relevance. UK GDPR Article 32 requires "appropriate technical measures" — the ICO considers OWASP Top 10 compliance as a baseline expectation for web applications processing personal data. Cyber Essentials covers several OWASP controls (secure configuration, patch management for vulnerable components). DTAC Domain 3 (Technical Security) for NHS-connected apps expects OWASP Top 10 mitigation evidence. FCA regulated firms should address OWASP Top 10 as part of their operational resilience and information security posture. ClickMasters includes OWASP Top 10 review as part of all project security assessments.

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