It is within highly integrated technology environments that information security is becoming a focal point for designing, developing and deploying software applications. Ensuring a high level of trust in the security and quality of these applications is crucial to their ultimate success. Information security has therefore become a core requirement for software applications, driven by the need to protect critical assets and the need to build and preserve widespread trust in computing. The aim of this paper is to provide guidance to software designers and developers by defining a set of guidelines for secure software development. The guidelines established are based on various internationally recognised standards and best practices and some of the processes developed by many key role players.