SDLM

The structured process of planning, building, testing, deploying, and maintaining software securely.

SDLM refers to the structured methodology that governs software from requirements through design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. A secure SDLC embeds security into each phase: threat modeling in design, secure coding and static analysis during development, dynamic testing before release, and patching in maintenance. Building security in early is far cheaper than fixing flaws after release. On the exam, treat the secure software development lifecycle as the framework that ensures security is considered at every stage rather than added at the end.