Security Checklist for Startups: 20 Things Before Your Series A

Security Due Diligence for Fundraising

Investors increasingly ask about security posture during due diligence. A data breach before or during fundraising can kill a deal. Here are 20 security items every startup should address before their Series A.

Foundation (Items 1-5)

1. Enable MFA everywhere: All team accounts — email, cloud providers, source control, Slack. Non-negotiable.
2. Use a password manager: Enforce unique passwords for every service. 1Password or Bitwarden for teams.
3. Encrypt data at rest and in transit: TLS for all connections, encryption enabled on databases and storage.
4. Implement access control: Least-privilege access. Remove ex-employee accounts within 24 hours.
5. Enable audit logging: Cloud audit trails, application access logs, and admin action logs.

Application Security (Items 6-10)

6. Run dependency scanning: Check for known vulnerabilities in your npm/pip/maven dependencies. Automate with CI/CD.
7. Implement input validation: Server-side validation for all user inputs.
8. Use parameterized queries: Prevent SQL injection. No string concatenation for database queries.
9. Set security headers: CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options.
10. Conduct a vulnerability scan: Run an automated security scan against your production environment.

Infrastructure (Items 11-15)

11. Separate environments: Development, staging, and production must be isolated.
12. No secrets in code: Use environment variables or a secrets manager. Never commit API keys or passwords.
13. Automate deployments: CI/CD pipelines reduce human error and enable security gates.
14. Enable backup and recovery: Automated database backups with tested restore procedures.
15. Implement monitoring and alerting: System health, error rates, and security events.

Process (Items 16-20)

16. Write a security policy: Even a 2-page document shows investors you take security seriously.
17. Conduct a privacy review: Know what data you collect, where it's stored, and who can access it.
18. Implement incident response plan: Who does what when a breach is detected?
19. Get cyber insurance: Covers breach response costs. Required by many enterprise customers.
20. Schedule regular security assessments: Quarterly automated scans plus annual manual testing.