OWASP Belfast: Secure Dependencies & Faster Software Onboarding

## OWASP Belfast: Secure Dependencies & Faster Software Onboarding

Join us for the next OWASP Belfast meetup on Thursday, 28 May, hosted by Rapid7 at their Belfast office.
This evening will feature two practical talks focused on building safer software supply chains and improving how organisations evaluate, approve, and onboard software. Modern application security teams are under pressure to reduce risk while enabling developers and businesses to move quickly. These sessions will explore how to make better security decisions without creating unnecessary friction.

### Event Details

Date: Thursday, 28 May
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Venue: Rapid7, 19 Chichester Street, Belfast, BT1 4JB

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## Talk 1: Curating Secure Software: The Art of Selecting Safe Dependencies

Speaker: Kadi McKean
Choosing open-source dependencies is a lot like curating an art gallery: every component should be carefully selected, verified, and maintained. In this talk, Kadi will explore why curation is foundational to secure software supply chains.
The session will cover how teams can evaluate third-party components for vulnerabilities, licensing risks, tampering, and long-term maintainability. Attendees will also learn practical strategies for maintaining trusted repositories and using free tools to automate parts of the dependency review process.

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## Talk 2: Get to “Yes” Faster: Simple, Scalable, and Secure Software Onboarding

Speaker: Frithjof Hoffmann
Enterprise software onboarding is often where speed goes to die: manual reviews, siloed workflows, and heavy dependence on third-party attestations can all create bottlenecks that slow down business-critical deployments.
Frithjof will share a practical approach to building a software onboarding process that is simple to operate, scalable across teams, and aligned with modern security expectations. This talk will focus on reducing review friction, improving decision consistency, and helping organisations get to “yes” faster without lowering the bar on security.

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## Who Should Attend?

This meetup is ideal for application security professionals, developers, DevSecOps engineers, security architects, engineering leaders, and anyone involved in software supply chain security, open-source governance, third-party risk, or software onboarding.
Whether you are new to OWASP or already part of the community, you are very welcome to join us for an evening of practical AppSec insights, discussion, and networking.

Please RSVP to reserve your place.