What does the security documentation phase deliver, and what are its pitfalls?

Documentation for secure installation, operation and use, the security concept and known issues, and the documents certification needs, including a software bill of materials (SBOM). Pitfalls: too much detail, hiding issues, legalistic language.

The Project Lead is responsible, supported by developers, marketing and communications, and Product Security. Deliverables:

• Installation and operation guidance and security user guidance.
• Release notes, known issues and residual risks.
• Security concept and intended use.
• Certification documentation.
• SBOM: the machine-readable list of every component and version in the product, so customers can check it against new CVEs themselves.

It runs draft → review → sign-off → publish, on a website or customer portal. Good practice is a broad review, clear language and a defined glossary. The pitfalls defeat the purpose. A customer cannot configure the product securely from a document that is too detailed or too legalistic. Hidden issues come out eventually, and then the customer loses trust in the manufacturer.

Go deeper:

• Software supply chain and SBOM (Wikipedia) — what an SBOM contains and the SPDX and CycloneDX formats